South Central Pinal County storm history

Antecedent dry conditions along with gusty winds of about 20 to 25 mph produced localized dense blowing dust that reduced visibility to near zero in parts of Pinal County. This localized blowing dust resulted in a multiple vehicle chain-reaction accident along Interstate 10 near …

Extremely dry soils and strong southwest winds caused localized dust storms along Interstate 10 in southern Pinal County. One dust storm reduced visibility to less than one quarter of a mile causing a fatal 16-vehicle accident that closed the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 for …

A fiery ten vehicle accident killed an infant and closed westbound lanes of Interstate 10 near Red Rock. The cause of the accident was zero visibility due to a dust storm. The infant was in a car seat in the backseat of a car that apparently slowed down when it entered the dust a…

Strong south winds created areas of blowing dust in south central Pinal County. Visibility was reduced to less than a quarter mile along Interstate 10 near Picacho and resulted in a multi-vehicle accident and a closure of the east bound lanes of the interstate for 60-90 minutes. …

High temperatures ranging from 108 to 115 degrees were common August 14-16 across the lower deserts of southeast Arizona, essentially at elevations below 3000 feet in Pima and south central Pinal County. The hottest of the three days was the 15th when record high temperatures wer…

Strong thunderstorms moved across the Three Points, Picture Rocks and Avra Valley areas, generating strong outflow winds that resulted in a reduced visibility in blowing dust. A haboob was photographed moving through these areas and across south central Pinal County. Four separat…

Strong thunderstorm winds kicked up an area of dust along Interstate 10 near Picacho Peak, dropping visibility to near zero. One driver slowed enough to cause a tractor trailer to rear end the vehicle setting off a 13 vehicle accident. In all there were 12 injuries with 5 people …

Video on social media of near zero visibility along Interstate 10 from blowing dust.

Arizona Department of Transportation's dust sensor recorded 900 yards of visibility due to blowing dust at mile marker 213 on Interstate 10 near Picacho, AZ.

Arizona Department of Transportation dust sensor reported visibility at roughly 900 yards at mile marker 213 on Interstate 10 near Eloy, AZ.

Pinal Airpark AWOS (KMZJ) recorded a visibility of 0.25 miles due to dust storm.

Arizona DOT dust sensor from mile marker 215 to 216 recorded visibility less than 0.25 miles along Interstate 10.

Extreme Drought (D3) continued in South Central Pinal County in the month of July. For the month of July, Pinal county ranked the 14th driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings increased to range between the 30th through 70th percentile for the month of July. The Ex…

Pinal Airpark AWOS reported visibility less than 0.25 miles due to blowing dust.

ADOT dust sensor reported visibility less than 0.25 miles due to blowing dust.

Hot temperatures about 7 to 11 degrees above normal were experienced in south central Pinal County, causing the Major Heat Risk category to be reached.

Hot temperatures 7 to 10 degrees above normal were experienced in South Central Pinal County July 8 through July 11 causing the Major Heat Risk category to be reached.

Hot temperatures 7 to 10 degrees above normal were experienced in South Central Pinal County July 8 through July 9 causing the Major Heat Risk category to be reached.

Hot temperatures about 6 to 10 degrees above normal were experienced in south central Pinal County, causing the Major Heat Risk category to be reached.

South Central Pinal County recorded high temperatures around 105 degrees which is in the moderate Heat Risk category.

Very hot temperatures of 10 to 14 degrees above normal caused the Major Heat Risk category to be reached across western Pima and southeast Pinal counties September 9-10. Record highs at Ajo were 115 and 113 degrees, respectively. Record highs at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monumen…

Very hot temperatures of 7 to 14 degrees above normal caused the Major Heat Risk category to be reached across southeast Pima County, south central Pinal County and the lower elevations of Santa Cruz County August 27-29. Record highs included 111 degrees at Picacho Peak; 108 at S…

Very hot temperatures up to 10 degrees above normal caused the Major Heat Risk category to be reached across western Pima County and southern Pinal County August 4-6. A record high of 107 degrees occurred at San Manuel on August 5. Other high temperatures included 112 at Ajo on A…

Thunderstorm winds caused a dust storm to reduce visibilities along I-10 from Picacho to Eloy. ADOT sensors and social media reports indicated visibilities were reduced to under a quarter mile.

Thunderstorm outflow winds caused a wall of dust to travel northwest across south central Pinal County. ADOT sensors detected blowing dust reducing visibilities to less than a quarter mile along I-10 from Picacho Peak to Eloy.

Very hot temperatures of 6 to 11 degrees above normal caused the Major Heat Risk category to be reached across south central and southeast Pinal County July 14-29. Record highs at Picacho Peak Ajo included 113 degrees July 19-21; and 112 on July 25. The hottest temperature was 11…

Very hot temperatures of 5 degrees above normal caused the Major Heat Risk category to be reached across south central Pinal County the first nine days of July. Picacho Peak reached 110 degrees on July 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8.

Very hot temperatures 6 to 11 degrees above normal were experienced in the lower elevations of Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Santa Cruz and southeast Pinal counties June 26-27, causing the Major Heat Risk category to be reached. Some of the hottest temperatures during the period wer…

A thunderstorm outflow boundary moved northwest along Interstate 10 lowering visibility to less than 1/4 mile from Picacho to Eloy.

Thunderstorm outflow winds resulted in a dust storm across south central Pinal County. Traffic on Interstate 10 was halted in both directions due to visibilities less than 100 feet.

Very hot high temperatures around 10 degrees above normal occurred across the lower elevations of southeast Arizona on July 22, causing the High Heat Risk category to be reached. The hottest temperature was 112 at Ajo. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Sells, Picacho, and Saff…

Thunderstorm winds produced a wall of dust that advanced westward across Pinal County. Visibility was reduced to near zero along Interstate 10 from Red Rock to Picacho Peak to Eloy. An accident occurred near mile post 15 that involved a semi-tractor trailer which rolled onto its …

Very hot high temperatures around 10 degrees above normal occurred on July 11, causing the High Heat Risk category to be reached. Picacho topped out at 110 degrees.

Thunderstorm outflow winds produced a wall of dust that reduced visibilities to less than a quarter mile across I-10 near the Pima/Pinal county line.

Thunderstorm outflow winds produced a wall of dust that reduced visibilities to less than a quarter mile across I-10 near Picacho.

Thunderstorm outflow winds produced a wall of dust that reduced visibility to less than a quarter mile across I-10 northwest of Picacho.

Very hot high temperatures occurred across western Pima and south central Pinal counties and caused the High Heat Risk category to be reached. Ajo and Picacho topped out at 110 degrees and Organ Pipe National Monument reached 108.

Very hot high temperatures of 104 to 110 degrees occurred with low temperatures in the upper 70s to lower 80s, and caused the High Heat Risk category to be reached. Picacho set a record with 110 degrees on the 11th. San Manuel set records with 104 on the 10th and 105 on the 11th,…

Very hot high temperatures of 104 to 114 degrees, or 5 to 11 degrees above normal, occurred in the lower elevations of Pima, southeast Pinal, and northwest sections of Cochise and Graham counties August 25-27 and caused the High Heat Risk category to be reached. The highest tempe…

Very hot high temperatures of 104 to 115 degrees, or 8 to 12 degrees above normal, occurred in the lower deserts of Pima and Pinal counties August 3-4, and caused the High Heat Risk category to be reached. High temperatures on August 3 included 115 degrees at Ajo (record), 109 at…

Thunderstorm outflow winds produced widespread blowing dust that reduced visibilities to less than a quarter mile and caused traffic disruptions along Interstate 10 in southern Pinal County.

A wet July caused the exceptional (D4) drought category and extreme (D3) drought category to cease across nearly all of southeast Arizona, with exceptional drought only remaining in far southeast Cochise County by the end of the month. The extreme (D3) drought category remained a…

Very hot high temperatures of 106 to 119 degrees, or 8 to 13 degrees above normal, occurred in the lower elevations of southeast Arizona June 12-20, and caused the High Heat Risk category to be reached. New record daily high temperature records were established at numerous sites …

The exceptional (D4) and extreme (D3) drought categories continued across a large part of southeast Arizona during June, with the exception of western Pima County. Most areas only tallied 0.5 or less for the month, which is close to normal. A few locations received 1-1.5 of rain,…

The exceptional (D4) and extreme (D3) drought categories continued across a large part of southeast Arizona during May, with the exception of western Pima County. Rain for the month totaled less than 0.10 inch in most areas with spotty amounts of 0.25 to 0.50 inch on May 20-21. S…

The exceptional (D4) and extreme (D3) drought categories continued across a large part of southeast Arizona during April, with the exception of western Pima County. Precipitation totals for the month totaled less than 0.25 inch, or less than 25 percent of normal, in most areas, b…

The exceptional (D4) and extreme (D3) drought categories continued across a large part of southeast Arizona during March, with the exception of western Pima County. Precipitation totals for the month totaled 0.5 to 1.5 inches in some areas or 75 to 125 percent of normal, but many…

The exceptional (D4) and extreme (D3) drought categories continued across a large part of southeast Arizona during February, with the exception of western Pima County. Precipitation totals for the month totaled 0.5 to 2.0 inches near the Mogollon Rim or 50 to 100 percent of norma…

The exceptional (D4) and extreme (D3) drought categories continued across a large part of southeast Arizona during January, with the exception of western Pima County. Precipitation totals for the month totaled 0.5 to 1.5 inches, with higher amounts in the form of snow on the high…

The exceptional (D4) and extreme (D3) drought categories continued across a large part of southeast Arizona during December, with the exception of western Pima County. Precipitation totals for the month, which occurred primarily on December 9-10, totaled 0.10 to 1 inch or about 0…