Tornado, Malheur
- When
- June 17, 3:55 PM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Malheur County, 8 mi N of Ontario
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.2 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Coordinates
- 44.150, -116.970
Tornado in Oregon, June 17, 1997
During the evening of June 17, a severe thunderstorm developed over southeastern Oregon. This thunderstorm produced numerous downbursts of wind speeds from 70 to near 100 mph, and one confirmed tornado as it moved northeast and crossed into Idaho around 5:10 pm MDT.
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 BOI wrote it up.
During the evening of June 17, a severe thunderstorm developed over southeastern Oregon. This thunderstorm produced numerous downbursts of wind speeds from 70 to near 100 mph, and one confirmed tornado as it moved northeast and crossed into Idaho around 5:10 pm MDT. Downburst winds destroyed a seed company building. An estimated 8,700 acres of crops were damaged by the winds and hail. Total damage estimates reached 3 million dollars in Malheur County. An F-0 tornado touched down north of Ontario. The twister blew a pick-up truck off the road before dissipating as the parent thunderstorm moved across the Snake River into Idaho.
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
- Damaging Winds and Heavy Rain in Texas, June 17, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Mississippi, June 17, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 17, 1997
- Tornado in Indiana, June 17, 1997
- Tornado in Kentucky, June 17, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Idaho, June 17, 1997
- Lightning Strikes in North Carolina, June 17, 1997
- Tornado in Kentucky, June 17, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 17, 1997
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, June 17, 1997
- Tornado in Tennessee, June 17, 1997
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, June 17, 1997
More
Every storm in Oregon in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Oregon, 1997Warnings in Oregon, June 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: 5607483.