Tornado, Baker
- When
- May 17, 5:00 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
- Where
- Baker County, Halfway
- Rating
- F0
- Coordinates
- 44.880, -117.100
Tornado in Oregon, May 17, 1996
A strong upper level disturbance produced strong thunderstorms over Northeastern Oregon. In the town of Halfway, an unconfirmed small tornado destroyed a hay shed.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PQR wrote it up.
A strong upper level disturbance produced strong thunderstorms over Northeastern Oregon. In the town of Halfway, an unconfirmed small tornado destroyed a hay shed. Witnesses about 2 miles away saw a funnel cloud form and briefly touch down.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado in Minnesota, May 17, 1996
- Flash Flood in Indiana, May 17, 1996
- Heat in Missouri, May 17 to 20, 1996
- Flash Flood in Ohio, May 17, 1996
- Flood in Ohio, May 17, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 17, 1996
- Tornado in North Dakota, May 17, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, May 17, 1996
- Tornado in Minnesota, May 17, 1996
- Tornado in Idaho, May 17, 1996
- Tornado in Idaho, May 17, 1996
- Flash Flood in North Dakota, May 17, 1996
More
Every storm in Oregon in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Oregon, 1996Warnings in Oregon, May 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5556963.