Flood — Pima, Arizona
2006-07-31 · near Tucson, Pima, Arizona
Event narrative
Several rivers running through the Tucson Metro Area flooded on July 31, 2006. The Rillito River flooded with water over the cement banks near Dodge Boulevard. Additionally, the Rillito River was over bankfull just east of the Swan Road Bridge. River Road near La Cholla Road was flooding from the Rillito River. Sabino Creek was out of its banks and houses were flooded near Sabino Canyon and Bear Canyon. Below is a listing of some of the damage, but not all, caused by the flooding and an estimate for the cost of repairs:Sabino Canyon Recreation area road and facility damaged, $100,000Forty homes and businesses flooded, $1,200,000One home destroyed due to flooding, $150,000Water main broke near the Mt. Lemmon highway, $20,000Catalina Highway road washed away, $50,000Agricultural irrigation system damaged, $500,000Cement plant flooded, $400,000Gravel pit flooded, $30,000General infrastructure damage, $500,000
Wider weather episode
With tropical moisture pouring into Southeast Arizona, several days of rainfall preceded the July 31st event. With grounds saturated at most locations, the additional rainfall that fell on the 31st had a hard time soaking into the ground and mainly stayed as runoff. Rivers and washes quickly filled to and over bankfull, flooding homes and businesses as well as nearby roads. Some roadways were washed away due to the strong flood waters. Below is a listing of rainfall amounts for some locations:U OF A CAMPUS 1.17DAVIS-MONTHAN AFB 1.23TUCSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 1.90AVRA VALLEY AIRPARK 1.07SANTA CRUZ RIVER AT INA RD 0.67SANTA CRUZ R/VALENCIA RD 1.26CDO WASH/CORONADO CAMP 1.50DAN SADDLE 1.06SAMANIEGO PEAK 1.26GOLDER RANCH/ORACLE 5SW 0.87ORACLE RANGER STATION 0.24ORACLE RIDGE 0.87DODGE TANK/CATALINA 5E 1.26CHERRY SPRINGS/CATALINA 6E 1.30PIG SPRINGS/ORACLE 5SSW 1.53CATALINA STATE PARK 0.63CDO WASH/SADDLEBROOKE 1.10CDO WASH/GOLDER RANCH RD 0.83CDO WASH/INA RD 0.63ORO VALLEY PUBLIC WORKS 0.94BIG WASH/RANCHO VISTOSO BLVD 1.10WHITE TAIL NEAR PALISADES 1.69SABINO DAM 2.01GREEN MOUNTAIN 0.79FINGER ROCK WASH/SKYLINE DR 0.86SPEEDWAY BLVD/CRAYCROFT RD 1.22KOLB RD/GOLFLINKS RD 1.42RILLITO R/DODGE BLVD 0.51RILLITO R/LA CHOLLA BLVD 0.71ALAMO WASH/GLENN AVE 1.18TANQUE VERDE/TANQUE VERDE RD 1.61TANQUE VERDE/SABINO CANYON RD 1.73VENTANA CANYON/SUNRISE RD 1.38BEAR CANYON RD/KAYENTA DR 1.34AGUA CALIENTE/HOUGHTON RD 2.40SPEEDWAY BLVD/HARRISON RD 1.54BROADWAY BLVD/TANQUE VERDE LOOP 1.61MANNING CAMP/RINCON MOUNTAINS 1.18PANTANO RD/IRVINGTON RD 1.34PANTANO WASH/HOUGHTON RD 1.22SALCIDO PLACE/MESCAL 5N 0.91RANCHO DEL LAGO/VAIL 3NW 0.71PANTANO WASH/VAIL 0.74CIENEGA CREEK/INTERSTATE 10 1.42DAVIDSON CANYON/INTERSTATE 10 0.91HAYSTACK MOUNTAIN/MESCAL 6S 0.75COUNTRY CLUB AND AJO 1.81TEP/IRVINGTON RD 1.06PIMA AIR MUSEUM 1.22PIMA COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS 0.82CORONA DE TUCSON 0.90ELEPHANT HEAD/MADERA CANYON 0.31FLORIDA CANYON/MADERA CANYON 1.02
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5522762. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.