Dust Storm — Northwest Pinal County, Arizona

2023-07-17 · Northwest Pinal County, Arizona

Event narrative

Visibility of less than 1/8 mile reported in dense blowing dust due to thunderstorm outflow winds in the area of Hazeldine Road and Waverly Drive in Casa Grande. No accidents or injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms initiated across portions of southeast AZ during the afternoon hours. With high pressure centered over the Arizona/New Mexico border, the steering flow was from the southeast so as a result storms were steered northwestward into portions south-central AZ, including portions of Pinal County and southern Maricopa County. The storms weakened approaching the Greater Phoenix area due to strong convective inhibition. With moderate instability with MLCAPE ranging between 500-1000 J/KG and DCAPE in excess of 2,000 J/KG, conditions were favorable for strong downburst winds and outflows, which resulted in areas of dense blowing dust across portions of Pinal and Maricopa Counties.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1118092. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.