TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A fast-moving monsoon storm that swept through Tucson on Thursday evening left a trail of damage at Armory Park, where city officials say powerful winds knocked down or damaged several mature trees.
Lara Hamwey, director of the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department, said the city believes a microburst may have been responsible for the concentrated damage.
“It looks like we got some sort of microburst right over Armory Park and the downtown area,” Hamwey said. “Which then resulted in some significant tree damage at the park.”
The National Weather Service issued several severe weather warnings for Pima County Thursday evening, forecasting wind gusts up to 60 mph and warning that damaging winds could bring down trees.
Hamwey said four trees at the 4-acre downtown park were either knocked over or will need to be removed.
“We had a pretty significant Aleppo pine that was on the northern side of the park in the dog park area,” she said. “And then three of the Cyprus trees.”
The city’s parks department was alerted to the damage quickly through social media, allowing staff to respond and secure the area.
“Thanks to folks taking initiative to kind of put it out there,” Hamwey said, “it allowed us to be able to go and look and secure.”
The city does not yet know the total cost of the storm damage. However, Hamwey said Tucson has already contracted out the tree removal, with preliminary estimates coming in at about $30,000.
“The early estimates, just for doing tree removal, is about $30,000,” she said.
Armory Park’s dog park, which is in the northern portion of the larger park, remains closed. The city says the rest of the park is open, though repairs and inspections are continuing. The city’s website warns that the park sustained significant storm damage and that the dog park will remain closed until further notice.
The dog park includes separate areas for large and small dogs, along with grass, benches, lighting and a drinking fountain. It was the site of a grand opening celebration earlier this month.
Hamwey said city officials are also checking for potential damage beneath the surface after trees were uprooted.
“We’re going to need a little more time to figure out if any underground utilities are impacted,” Hamwey said. “We know that lights were on last night. So we’re hopeful that if we did have any damage from the uprooting, it’s minimal.”
The department has not announced when the dog park will reopen.
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Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
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