Tornado, Malheur
- When
- April 30, 2:45 PM MST to 3:15 PM MST
- Where
- Malheur County, Ontario Arpt to 4 mi SW of Ontario Arpt
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 3 mi
- Path width
- 30 yd
- Coordinates
- 43.980, -117.170
Tornadoes in Oregon, April 30, 1997
On the afternoon of April 30, severe thunderstorms erupted over Southeastern Oregon. These thunderstorms produced two confirmed weak tornadoes near Ontario.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
- 3
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 BOI wrote it up.
On the afternoon of April 30, severe thunderstorms erupted over Southeastern Oregon. These thunderstorms produced two confirmed weak tornadoes near Ontario. The strongest twister touched down near the hamlet of Cairo Junction . It destroyed a metal construction barn, ripped up some irrigation pipe, broke windows and lifted a two thousand pound camper and carried it 50 feet. The second tornado touched down at Farewell Bend State Park in Baker County. It did minimal damage to a fence before dissipating as it crossed the Snake River. Weather spotters also reported at least two funnel clouds which did not reach the ground in the area between Ontario and Nyssa Oregon.
The radar
The Boise radar (KCBX), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:46 UTC.
Event by event
2 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Baker
- When
- April 30, 2:00 PM PST to 2:15 PM PST
- Where
- Baker County, 3 mi S of Huntington
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 1 mi
- Path width
- 20 yd
- Coordinates
- 44.300, -117.250
Funnel Cloud, Malheur
- When
- April 30, 3:00 PM MST
- Where
- Malheur County, 6 mi S of Ontario
- Coordinates
- 43.193, -117.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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.
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes in Illinois, April 30, 1997
- Tornadoes in Illinois, April 30, 1997
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, April 30, 1997
- Tornado in Indiana, April 30, 1997
- Tornado in Missouri, April 30, 1997
- High Wind in Kentucky, April 30, 1997
- High Wind in Illinois, April 30, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Michigan, April 30, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, April 30, 1997
- High Wind in Iowa, April 30, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Kentucky, April 30, 1997
- Tornadoes in Illinois, April 30, 1997
More
Every storm in Oregon in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Oregon, 1997Warnings in Oregon, April 1997
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: 5600323, 5600324, 5600325.