Maricopa

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Pinal County, the county that contains Maricopa.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Pinal County, the county that contains Maricopa.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Pinal County, the county that contains Maricopa.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Pinal County.

Mapped by AZ GS (506), USGS Conterminous (5), NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 4, 2021Wildfire, Pinal/Superstition Mountains$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Telegraph Fire began as a human-caused wildfire south of Superior, Arizona. The wildfire quickly grew and led to multiple extended road closures, which included Highway 177 between Superior and Winkelman, Highway 77 between Globe and Winkelman, and Highway 60 between Superior and Top-Of-The-World. In addition to the road closures, evacuation orders were issued for multiple communities, including Superior, Top-Of-The-World, El Capitan, and portions of Miami and Globe. Increasing monsoonal activity toward the end of June and into early July provided some aid in extinguishing the wildfire. The Telegraph Fire became fully contained by July 6th after burning 180,757 acres and…

2. Jul 25, 2021Flood$7.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread rain occurred on July 24 and 25 in the Santa Cruz River watershed in Pinal County and upstream in much of eastern Pima County with 48 hour rain totals of 3 to 4 inches common. High flows in the river traveled downstream into Greene Wash. A levee breached in the wash near Toltec Buttes and washed out a road, then flowed into a canal, causing damage along 3/4 mile of the canal. Further downstream in Greene Wash, Sunland Gin Rd was also flooded and damaged. Indian Route 15 near Chuichu was also flooded and two nearby homes sustained minor flood damage.

3. Aug 13, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   About 90 mobile homes damaged or destroyed at Las Casitas trailer park. One third of them were blown off their foundations. About 150 people evacuated due to damage and numerous gas leaks. Unknown number of people had minor injuries. Numerous trees were blown down and about a mile-long stretch of power poles were damaged.

4. Apr 8, 2021Wildfire, Southeast Pinal County$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The human caused Margo Fire started on April 8th in the San Pedro River bed near Dudleyville. The fire was spread by gusty winds which led to the evacuation of over 200 of the town's residents. The wildfire destroyed seventeen residences and around two dozen outbuildings and caused the closure of State Route 77. The fire consumed 1148 acres before it was contained April 11th. Property damage costs were estimated at around $2 million while fire suppression costs tallied $300,000.

5. Sep 18, 2004Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local areas of heavy rainfall developed within a tropical-like environment across much of south-central Arizona. Locally windy conditions preceded the showers and thunderstorms during the late afternoon hours. A rather narrow band of heavy rain developed over mainly rural areas of northern Pinal County, which resulted in flooded homes and roads. Three to 5 inches of rain was reported in a 70 minute period in one northern portion of Pinal County, according to the county emergency manager. The worst damage occurred in the community of Queen Valley, where the sewage treatment plant had an initial damage estimate of $1.5 million. Gov. Napolitano declared an emergency and designated…

6. May 21, 2025Wildfire, Southeast Pinal County$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cody Wildfire began on May 21st around 3:30 PM MST near Oracle, AZ. The fire was controlled on June 16th, burning a total of 1223 acres. The fire was fueled by high winds and dry fuels. The wildfire destroyed 5 homes, damaged 1 home, and burned 8 other structures. The wildfire also set GO evacuation status to 1,100 people in the southeastern portions of Oracle, AZ. The wildfire was human caused.

7. Sep 2, 2022Lightning$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local media reported a home was struck by lightning near Hunt Highway and Peace Pipe Place. The home caught fire and was fully destroyed. No injuries were reported.

8. Jul 28, 2022Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between 1 and 3 inches of rain fell within 1-2 hours across Apache Junction and the adjacent higher terrain north and east of the city, towards the Goldfield and Superstitions mountains. Water from those mountains drained down towards the area washes, including Weekes Wash, which runs through the city. Numerous roads were flooded and damaged along with multiple water rescues taking place of residents in homes that either were surrounded with water or had water inside them. One of the more dramatic water rescues occurred when a woman had to be rescued from her vehicle that was swept away by the flood waters of Weekes Wash and traveled half a mile downstream before encountering a…

9. May 29, 2024Wildfire, Southeast Pinal County$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Simmons Fire near Kelvin was active from May 28 through June 4 and burned 4 homes. The fire was of an undetermined cause as of this publication and burned around 350 acres.

10. Aug 18, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds up to 75 mph impacted Eloy, Arizona when a microburst descended near the Volvo equipment rental facility. These strong winds resulted in significant damage in a divergent pattern across southeast portions of Eloy. A total of 20 homes sustained significant damage. Some had roof structures blown off, while some suffered total roof collapses and one had a tree fell on it and a nearby vehicle. Of the 20 homes, 14 were condemned. Several other homes sustained damage due to flying debris while still others only had shingle damage. In addition, eight businesses were damaged beyond repair including one that also collapsed onto cars and equipment. Several power poles…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

122°FJun 26, 1990

All-time low

17°FJan 5, 1950

Warmest night

97°F2 times, most recently Jul 24, 2026

Coldest day

43°F2 times, most recently Dec 11, 1985

Wettest day

3.30 inSep 8, 2014

Snowiest day

0.4 inFeb 2, 1939

Hottest year

2024mean 78.6°F

Coldest year

1964mean 67.9°F

Wettest year

194115.37 in

Driest year

19562.82 in

Snowiest season

0.4 in1990-91

Station Phoenix Airport (USW00023183), 1,113 ft elevation, 26.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1933 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Pinal County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00023183.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.