Dust Storm — Gila River Valley, Arizona

2021-08-14 · Gila River Valley, Arizona

Event narrative

Visibility fell to less than one quarter mile in blowing dust near Avenue 42 E and County 7th Street S in Tacna. No damages or injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

A classic bow echo developed along the Mogollon Rim in central Arizona around 1900MST on the 13th and merged with thunderstorm clusters that developed in south-central Arizona around 2030MST to form one southwestward-moving MCS that progressed all the way to the town of Yuma in far southwest Arizona by 0230MST on the 14th. The MCS produced widespread strong winds with localized damaging winds from individual microbursts across the region. The strong winds also generated dense blowing dust in southwest Arizona. In addition to the wind, storms were producing average rain rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour with briefly higher rates in the strongest cells. This led to flash flooding in multiple areas. The town of Gila Bend suffered catastrophic flash flooding after 2 to 4 inches of rain fell over a large portion of the basin containing Sand Tank and Bender Washes, which flow into Gila Bend. A breach of the canal in town due to erosion added to the flash flooding. Significant flow through the washes impacted numerous homes and businesses and there were 2 fatalities. A state of emergency was declared for this event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 983732. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.