High Wind in Oregon, December 15 to 16, 2001

Name: High Wind in Oregon, December 15 to 16, 2001
Start: 2001-12-15T07:00
End: 2001-12-16T21:00
Location: Oregon

December 15 to 16, 2001 · NWS PQR · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

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 PQR wrote it up.

A strong winter storm moved onshore bringing strong winds and heavy rains to the Oregon Coast and Coastal Mountains resulting in many downed trees, power outages and high waters. Bouy 29 at the mouth of the Columbia River reported winds 43 gusts to 56 mph, Newport Jetty 50 gusts to 70 mph, Florence 53 gusts to 68 mph, Garibaldi gusts to 68 mph, Netarts 40 to 50 gusts to 80 mph, Seaside gusts to 75 mph, Astoria gusts to 65 mph. In the Coastal Mountains Cedar Creek RAWS had gusts to 62 mph, Cannibal RAWS gusts to 65 mph, Wilkerson gusts to 57 mph. 17000 customers reported lost power. Small slides blocked Highway 30 at various points causing traffic detours. Thigh deep water covered Highway 101 South of Seaside. A tree fell across a private residence in Lincoln City, and estimated cost of repair was not available. No injuries were reported.

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 Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 15, 2:30 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 15, 2:30 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
230 AM PST SAT DEC 15 2001

.SYNOPSIS...WARM FRONT APPROACHING COAST MOVES ASHORE THIS EVENING.
COLD FRONT OVER NORTHERN WASHINGTON TONIGHT STRENGTHENS SUN AS NEXT
LOW PRES APPROACHES.  LOW MOVES INTO BRITISH COLOMBIA SUN EVENING
WITH COLD FRONT SLOWLY PUSHING THROUGH AREA SUN NIGHT MOVING SOUTH
MON MORNING.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...WARM FRONT APPROACHING MOVES ASHORE TONIGHT.  ETA/AVN
CLOSE WITH THIS SYSTEM.  GRADIENTS TIGHTEN ENOUGH TO GIVE LOW END HWW
COAST HEADLANDS LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH WARM FRONT.  THIS
SUPPORTED BY MESOETA WINDS.  FREEZING LEVEL AROUND 2000 FEET AS SHOWN
BY TV TOWER TEMPS.  BEFORE PCPN GETS GOING ANY STICKING SNOW ABOVE 2K
SO WILL END SNOW ADVISORIES FOR LOWER ELEVATIONS.   CASCADES LOOK OK
FOR LOW END ADVISORY TODAY WITH RISING SNOW LEVELS TONIGHT.  AS WARM
FRONT PUSHES THROUGH TONIGHT PCPN BREAKS UP INLAND VALLEYS AND S BUT
CONTINUES N COAST AND INCREASES AS COLD FRONT GETS CLOSER LATE.  850
MB WINDS WITH MODERATE HIGH PW WILL ALLOW SIG PCPN N COAST AREA AND
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS.  MODELS DIVERGE SOME ON SUN WITH AVN BRINGING
SECOND STRONG LOW INTO BRITISH COLUMBIA.  COLD AIR BUILDING MID PAC
ALONG WITH ANOTHER STRONG JET CORE W OF DATELINE FAVOR AVN SOLUTION.
EITHER CASE STRONG GRADIENT DEVELOPS WITH LIKELY MODERATE HIGH WIND
EVENT.  WILL GO WITH WATCH FOR STRONGER WINDS COAST SUN.  COLD FRONT
SLOW TO MOVE THROUGH SUN AND SUN NIGHT WITH VERY FAVORABLE AND STRONG
850 FLOW PCPN BECOMES VERY EFFICIENT.  HEAVY RAIN LIKELY TO CONTINUE
ALONG NORTHERN COAST SUN SPREADING INLAND AND S IN THE AFTERNOON.
FLOODING EVENT VERY POSSIBLE WITH N COAST FIRST LATE TONIGHT AND SUN
AND REST OF AREA POSSIBLE SUN NIGHT AND MON.  FRONT PUSHES THROUGH
MOST OF AREA BY MON MORNING THOUGH S AND FAR E PART SEES MORNING
RAIN.  FRONT CLEARS AREA BY MIDDAY WITH WEAK HIGH PRES PUSHING INTO
AREA.  ANY RESIDUAL SHOWERS MON AFTERNOON MAINLY N COAST AND
MOUNTAINS.

.LONG TERM...EXTENDED MODELS SIMILAR WITH NEXT SYSTEM FOR TUE.
CANADIAN SPLITS NEXT SYSTEM FURTHER OFFSHORE WED/THU WHILE MRF MORE
PROGRESSIVE.  AVN/MRF TRACK COULD MAKE THINGS INTERESTING FOR LOW
LEVEL SNOW.  FOR NOW WILL LUMP WED THROUGH FRI WITH CHANCE OF PCPN.
KOSOVITZ

AST ++++6 PDX 999+5 SLE 999+5 EUG 888+7

.PQR...HIGH WIND WARNING COAST THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
       HIGH WIND WATCH COAST SUN.
       GALE WARNING COAST.
       SNOW ADVISORY CASCADES TODAY.
       FLOOD POTENTIAL OUTLOOK...FOR SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND
        NORTHWEST OREGON SAT NIGHT THROUGH MON.

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Central Oregon Coast

When: December 15, 7:00 AM PST to December 16, 9:00 PM PST
Where: Central Oregon Coast forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

High Wind, Northern Oregon Coast

When: December 15, 7:00 AM PST to December 16, 9:00 PM PST
Where: Northern Oregon Coast forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

High Wind, Coast Range of Nw Oregon

When: December 15, 7:00 AM PST to December 16, 9:00 PM PST
Where: Coast Range of Nw Oregon forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oregon in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, December 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: 5275461, 5275462, 5275463.