Flash Flood, Wheeler
- When
- April 26, 7:30 PM PST to 8:43 PM PST
- Where
- Wheeler County, 20 mi S of Spray
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
- Coordinates
- 44.726, -120.027 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Oregon, April 26, 2001
A slow moving thunderstorm produced an estimated 1 inch of rain over mountainous terrain in southeastern Wheeler County. Subsequently, a small stream along State Highway - 26 overflowed its banks and washed debris across the road near mile marker 94.
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
- $5,000
- 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 PDT wrote it up.
A slow moving thunderstorm produced an estimated 1 inch of rain over mountainous terrain in southeastern Wheeler County. Subsequently, a small stream along State Highway - 26 overflowed its banks and washed debris across the road near mile marker 94. A local rancher mentioned that water covered the road to a depth of 1 1/2 feet, leaving debris that accumulated to a depth of 6 inches. The Oregon Dept. of Transportation closed the road for several hours while a road grader cleared the surface.
What forecasters said that day
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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 26, 1:30 PM PST, 6 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 26, 1:30 PM PST, 6 hours before
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 230 PM PDT THU APR 26 2001 SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER EXTREME SOUTHEAST OREGON AS SHOWN BY RADAR AND SATELLITE THIS AFTERNOON. THAT ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST IN THE SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. AFTERNOON HEATING MAY TRIGGER MORE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY OVER THE BEND-REDMOND AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS CONVECTIVE PARAMETERS ARE FAVORABLE. HAVE MAINTAINED CHANCE POPS SHOWERS WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT MAINLY IN THE BEND-REDMOND AREA...THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS AND THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL REMAIN OUT OF THE SOUTHWEST THROUGH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT. THEN THE OFFSHORE TROUGH SHOULD MOVE ONSHORE WITH A COOL...MOIST...AND SLIGHTLY MORE STABLE AIR MASS. EXPECT A CHANCE OF RAIN OR SHOWERS AS A RESULT...BUT DO NOT BELIEVE ANY THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP WITH THE COLDER AIR ADVECTED BY THE TROUGH. BREEZY CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY THROUGH OUR WIND PRONE AREAS AS THE JET IN THE BOTTOM AND LEADING EDGE OF THE TROUGH PASSES OVER OREGON. FARMER EXTENDED...A WARM FRONT WILL BRING PERIODS OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW TO THE FORECAST AREA ON SUNDAY. WARMER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED DURING THE DAY ON MONDAY BEFORE A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION LATE MONDAY WITH BREEZY CONDITIONS. COOLER TEMPERATURES ON TUESDAY. COOLER AIR ALOFT ON TUESDAY ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE MOVING THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA WILL STEEPEN LAPSE RATES AND DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS. A SERIES OF SHORT WAVES WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY FOR A CHANCE OF SHOWERS BOTH DAYS. POLAN PDT 3123 ALW 3123 PSC 2113 YKM 2123 .KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL. .KPDT...NONE.
The radar
The Pendleton radar (KPDT), 141 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:30 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Oregon in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, April 2001
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: 5240408.