Excessive Heat — South Central Pinal County, Arizona

2015-08-14 to 2015-08-16 · South Central Pinal County, Arizona

Event narrative

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 were set at Tucson, Ajo, Organ Pipe National Monument and Picacho Peak State Park. The high temperature at Tucson International Airport of 110 degrees, broke a record set in 1915. The new record high temperature established at Organ Pipe National Monument on August 15th was 112 degrees. There were at least a dozen people who were treated for heat-related illnesses throughout the three day period in Tucson. The hot temperatures caused high demand for power and electrical equipment outages, which resulted in up to 1700 customers to lose power in Tucson.

Wider weather episode

Strong high pressure of 5980 meters at 500 mb persisted over the Four Corners area and brought record high temperatures to the lower deserts of southeast Arizona including Tucson.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 597446. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.