Alert archive / Oregon / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003
Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Pendleton, OR
NWS Pendleton, OR issued this flash flood warning at Aug 4, 2003, 6:12 PM PDT for Wasco County, Oregon. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 4, 2003, 6:12 PM PDT (01:12 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 4, 2003, 8:30 PM PDT
- In force
- 2 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Pendleton, OR
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Wasco County, OR
The radar
The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:16 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The nearest sounding before it
Salem/Mcnary, OR (KSLE), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 103 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -529 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2246 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 21 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WGUS51 KPDT 050112 FFWPDT ORC065-050330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 612 PM PDT MON AUG 4 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PENDLETON HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... WESTERN WASCO COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL OREGON * UNTIL 830 PM PDT * AT 615 PM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND AUTOMATED RAIN GAGES INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUE OVER WESTERN WASCO COUNTY...OR ABOUT 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MAUPIN. * THIS WARNING REPLACES THE PREVIOUS WARNING THAT WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 615 PM. * AUTOMATED RAIN GAGES HAVE REPORTED THAT 3/4 OF AN INCH OF RAIN FELL IN 1 HOUR WITH RADAR INDICATING UP TO 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN POSSIBLE SINCE THE STORMS BEGAN. EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF CREEKS AND STREAMS...ROADS AND ROADSIDE CULVERTS. THE HEAVY RAINS COULD ALSO TRIGGER ROCK AND MUDSLIDES IN STEEP TERRAIN. SOME CREEKS AFFECTED MAY INCLUDE CEDAR CREEK AND BADGER CREEK AND THE SOUTH FORK OF THE WARM SPRINGS RIVER. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. LAT...LON 4498 12187 4485 12168 4480 12152 4524 12150 $$
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 4, 2:30 PM PDT, 3 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 2:30 PM PDT, 3 hours 42 minutes before
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 230 PM PDT MON AUG 4 2003 A PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST IS MOVING NORTHEAST AND APPROACHING THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR DIFLUENT FLOW AND LARGE SCALE ASCENT ALOFT OVER CENTRAL OREGON THIS AFTERNOON. THE LOW WILL ALSO TRANSPORT A MID LEVEL MOISTURE PLUME INTO CENTRAL OREGON WHERE STRONG SURFACE HEATING TODAY WILL DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALREADY DEVELOPING IN CENTRAL OREGON THIS AFTERNOON. THIS AREA HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING. THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST OREGON TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. THE LOW WILL TAP INTO INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE TONIGHT FOR SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT...WITH STORMS MORE NUMEROUS IN CENTRAL OREGON...OVERNIGHT IN CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL OREGON. A MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW...INSTABILITY AND DYNAMIC LIFT WILL SPREAD ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON BY TUESDAY. THIS WILL CREATE CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EAST OF THE CASCADES ON TUESDAY. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE. POLAN IN THE EXTENDED...UPPER TROUGH TO STRENGTHEN OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH AN UPPER LOW CENTER SETTING UP ALONG 130W OFF THE OREGON AND WASHINGTON COASTS. THIS WILL KEEP A SOUTH-SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST INTERIOR WITH ENOUGH LINGERING MOISTURE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS. THIS ACTIVITY MAY INCREASE SOME THURSDAY NIGHT IF A WAVE ROTATES AROUND THE UPPER LOW OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST. AT THIS TIME THERE IS SOME SUPPORT FOR THIS UPPER LOW TO SLOWLY DRIFT SOUTHEAST THIS WEEKEND AND THEN INLAND EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS WOULD INITIALLY CAUSE AN INCREASE IN THE ONSHORE FLOW WHICH WOULD RESULT IN A STABILIZATION OF THE AIR MASS WITH NO SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED. IF THE UPPER LOW DOES DRIFT INLAND THIS COULD LEAD TO A RETURN TO A LOW CHANCE OF SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY...BUT FOR NOW WILL ONLY PUT A FEW SHOWERS ALONG THE CASCADE CREST. GKH PDT 2340 ALW 2340 PSC 1220 YKM 1220 .KPDT...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 4, 10:52 AM PDT, 7 hours 20 minutes before
ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-051200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 1005 AM PDT MON AUG 4 2003 .DAY ONE...TODAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS CENTRAL OREGON...MAINLY IN DESCHUTES AND SOUTHERN CROOK COUNTIES. THE AIR MASS IS MOIST AND UNSTABLE...AND A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST OREGON WILL TRIGGER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THIS AREA BY LATE AFTERNOON. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...AND DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS OREGON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXECTED OVER MOST OF EASTERN OREGON TONIGHT...AND ACROSS EASTERN OREGON AND SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON ON TUESDAY. SOME THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE STRONG WITH HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...AND GUSTY WINDS POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. SMITH
In the hours before
Local storm report, Aug 4, 4:45 PM PDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
445 PM PDT MON AUG 04 2003
TIME(PDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0318 PM 6 SW CULVER OR .75 INCH HAIL
08/04/03 JEFFERSON REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.
0340 PM 7 SW CULVER OR 1.5 INCH HAIL
08/04/03 JEFFERSON REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.
0355 PM 6 NE MITCHELL OR 1 INCH HAIL
08/04/03 WHEELER REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.The office that day
Everything else NWS Pendleton, OR issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 5:29 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Wasco | 61 min |
| Aug 4, 5:59 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Umatilla | 61 min |
| Aug 4, 6:44 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Crook | 61 min |
| Aug 5, 1:12 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Deschutes, Jefferson | 33 min |
| Aug 5, 1:40 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Deschutes, Jefferson | 50 min |
| Aug 5, 2:25 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Jefferson, Wasco, Wheeler | 50 min |
| Aug 5, 2:29 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Jefferson, Wasco | 46 min |
| Aug 5, 2:38 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Gilliam, Morrow | 67 min |
| Aug 5, 3:14 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Sherman, Wasco | 46 min |
| Aug 5, 3:14 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Sherman, Wasco | 61 min |
| Aug 5, 3:41 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Morrow | 49 min |
| Aug 5, 3:45 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Gilliam, Sherman | 60 min |
| Aug 5, 3:46 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Gilliam, Sherman | 59 min |
| Aug 5, 4:19 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PDT | Umatilla | 56 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Oregon, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.