High Wind — Santa Cruz County, Arizona

2009-12-07 to 2009-12-08 · Santa Cruz County, Arizona

$100K

Property damage

61 MG

Magnitude

Event narrative

A trained spotter measured a wind gust of 70 mph three miles northeast of Canelo at 3:10 AM MST. Strong winds caused damage to numerous power poles and lines in Santa Cruz County, causing power outages to thousands of residents in the Sonoita, Elgin and Patagonia areas. A rancher near Sonoita reported 2 barn roofs were blown off by the high winds.

Wider weather episode

An intense winter storm passed through Arizona during the evening hours of December 7th and during the early morning hours of December 8th. Heavy snowfall and very strong winds combined to produce winter storm conditions in the mountains of southeast Arizona, with blizzard conditions occurring at times. A particularly strong pressure gradient south of this storm produced a significant nighttime high wind event across much of southeast Arizona, with many reports of damage.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 199012. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.