Thunderstorm Wind — Maricopa, Arizona

2002-07-14 · near (phx)sky Harbor Arpt, Maricopa, Arizona

Event narrative

The second of two microburst events struck on the airport at the Postal facility and the West economy parking lot. A large thunderstorm complex, with strong microburst winds estimated at 100 mph struck Sky Harbor International Airport. Southerly winds and dense blowing dust initially spread across the East valley and converged with a fast-moving thunderstorm in North Phoenix. These merging systems developed into a severe thunderstorm with winds that uprooted trees, took down power poles and damaged homes and businesses near the airport. Several hangars sustained major damage. Flying debris damaged five commercial aircraft, several private planes and hundreds of cars in the nearby parking lots. Numerous flights were diverted during the overnight hours due to the debris that was scattered on the runway.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.4333, -112.0167)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5303689. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.