


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Tucson, AZ
Issued by NWS Tucson, AZ
911 FXUS65 KTWC 241623 AFDTWC Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tucson AZ 924 AM MST Sun Aug 24 2025 .SYNOPSIS...Shower and thunderstorm chances continue west of Tucson today, then expand to the remainder of southeast Arizona starting Monday. Expect daily chances for showers and thunderstorms with day to day variability on coverage and intensity this week. Above normal temperatures through Monday then trending down to slightly below normal Tuesday through Thursday. An Extreme Heat Warning in effect until this evening for the greater Tucson area to southeastern Pinal county. && .UPDATE...Mostly sunny skies this morning across southeast Arizona. The situation is similar to yesterday with much drier conditions from Tucson south and eastward east of Tucson (PWAT 0.6 inch to 1 inch) with wetter conditions across central and western Pima County (PWAT 1.25 to 1.5 inches). Latest CAMs/HREF are in good agreement on developing convection this afternoon from Sells westward. Can`t rule out a severe thunderstorm especially across western Pima County where the HREF highlights 40-km neighborhood probabilities of 10-30% of wind gusts greater than 50 mph. Some locally heavy rain is also expected with stronger storms for the western deserts. As additional moistures moves to the north and east tonight and overspreads more of our forecast area, some storms have the potential to linger into the overnight and early morning hours as well, especially across the western deserts. Current forecast in good shape this morning. No updates. && .DISCUSSION...Clear to partly cloudy skies prevailed this morning with upper high near the 4 corners. The area continues to be split in half with PWATs in the 0.50" to 0.75" range east of Tucson and moister atmosphere with values up 1.50" west of Tucson. Surface dewpoints this morning were in the 40s east of Tucson, near 60 in and around Tucson, and from the mid 60s to mid 70s across western Pima county. As was the case yesterday, the main focus for widely scattered thunderstorms this afternoon/evening will be across W-SW of Tucson. Once again the main threats in this area will be strong gusty winds and brief heavy rain. Can`t rule out a severe thunderstorm or two later today west of Sells with 24/00z HREF showing 10%-30% neighborhood probabilities of winds greater than 50 kts. On temperature side, an Extreme Heat Warning remains in effect for portions of eastern Pima and SE Pinal Counties. Monday is trending to be a very active day across most of Pima county and Santa Cruz county as an approaching 300 mb trough from the SW brings increasing divergent flow out ahead of it while the deeper moisture that is residing west of Tucson today spreads east during the day. Latest model guidance is showing scattered strong, isolated severe, thunderstorms some of which will be producing very heavy rain with possible 1"+ rainfall rates/hr increasing the flash flooding threat. Area of concern would be south of a Ajo to Nogales line. Current WPC ERO has marginal risk (5%) of rainfall exceeding flash flood guidance. Tuesday: South-southwest flow aloft with an upper trof to our west and the upper high over Texas. Areal coverage of storms may shift to across the eastern half of the forecast area as the western part may be worked over from Mondays action. Plenty of uncertainty after Tuesday as deeper southwest flow aloft may push drier air across the area. The pattern we`ve seen as the area has been unable to hold and maintain deep monsoonal moisture across the area for an extended period of time. Confidence low after Tuesday. Temperatures will cool down to below normal levels starting Tuesday through Thursday then warmup a bit next weekend. && .AVIATION...Valid through 25/12Z. SCT lcly BKN 9k-12k ft AGL. WDLY SCTD -SHRA/-TSRA west of KTUS btwn 24/19z and 25/03z. Expect gusty and erratic winds with any -TSRA otrw SFC winds will generally be E-SE less than 12 kts through the fcst pd. Aviation discussion not updated for TAF amendments. && .FIRE WEATHER...Expect daily chances for rain showers and thunderstorms this week with day to day variability of intensity and coverage of storms. Temperatures will be running above normal again today with an Extreme Heat Warning in effect for the lower elevations. Winds will generally remain less than 15 mph with the afternoon gustiness into next week. Min RHs will be 15-20 percent in the low elevations and 20-30 percent in the mountains through the weekend. Deep monsoon moisture will early this week to provide higher wetting rain chances and coverage as well as better min RHs and below normal temperatures. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Extreme Heat Warning until 8 PM MST this evening for AZZ504>506. && $$ Visit us on Facebook...Twitter...YouTube...and at weather.gov/Tucson