The wind event above was covered with a Wind Advisory in this area, even thought the spotter reported winds met warning criteria. The RAWS at Weed was close to the observation location of spotter SY12, and winds there never met warning criteria.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
The wind event above was covered with a Wind Advisory in this area, even thought the spotter reported winds met warning criteria. The RAWS at Weed was close to the observation location of spotter SY12, and winds there never met warning criteria. The higher reported winds were probably very limited in coverage, so an Advisory was likely the best choice to cover this situation.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 10, 2:30 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 AM PST WED JAN 10 2001
STRONG LOW HEADING FOR CALIFORNIA TODAY. GOOD DEVELOPMENT IN CLOUD
SHIELD EVIDENT ON SATELLITE. WILL NEED TO INCREASE CLOUD COVERAGE IN
FORECAST FOR TODAY. TIMING OF PRECIP A BIT MORE DIFFICULT BUT LOOKS
TO BE LATER THIS MORN AND INTO THE AFTERNOON FOR THE MOST PART.
EXCEPTION WILL BE UPSLOPE AREAS OF NORTHERN CAL WHERE PRECIP LIKELY
TO BE ON-GOING THE WHOLE DAY. WILL UPGRADE WATCH TO WARNING FOR MT
SHASTA AREA AS SNOW LIKELY TO BE HEAVY FOR THIS TYPE OF EVENT. WILL
ADD ADVISORIES FOR SISKIYOUS AS THEY WILL ALSO BE IN ON THE UPSLOPE
SNOW. REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL SEE RAIN/SNOW..BUT NOT ON
THE HEAVY SIDE AS THIS WILL STAY IN CAL. WINDS WILL ALSO BE GUSTY IN
MANY AREAS BY THIS AFTERNOON. PRECIP WILL DIMINISH LATE THU AS COLD
UPR TROF MOVES EAST OF THE AREA. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE AROUND 4000'.
.MFR...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY/TONIGHT FOR ORZ028 CAZ080/081
WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY/TONIGHT CAZ082
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY
OTH RW 052/043 050/038 052 064776
4BK RW 051/044 051/038 052 067876
RBG RW 047/036 045/036 046 06467T5
MFR CW 046/038 046/034 046 063665
LMT CJ 038/029 035/021 035 063765
LKV CJ 039/029 035/021 034 063765
MHS SS 036/032 035/026 034 06++85The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Spotter SY39 near Black Butte reported estimated winds south 40 to 50 mph.
Spotter SY75 in Montague reported winds south 40 mph gusting to 65 mph.
Spotter SY12 in Weed reported winds 30 to 35 mph gusting to 62 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2001
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: 5227660, 5227658, 5227659.