1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 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 Jul 19, 1:42 PM PST, 3 hours 18 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 240 PDT THU JUL 19 2001 VISUAL SATELLITE PICTURES BEGAN TO SHOW BUILDUPS SOUTH OF REDMOND AT 900 AM/ 1600Z. LIGHTNING STRIKES BEGAN IN MEDFORD CWA BY 1230 PM/ 1930Z. WSR-88D COMPOSITE PICTURE AT 2048Z SHOWED A FEW SHOWERS SW OF REDMOND AND FROM JOHN DAY TO BAKER CITY. THE ATMOSPHERE IS UNSTABLE FROM SOUTH CENTRAL OREGON OVER THE BLUES TO THE WALLOWAS. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS EVENING IN THE UNSTABLE AIRMASS AS A DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. A STRONGER DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWEST OREGON AND FORM A CLOSED LOW FRIDAY MORNING. THIS LOW WILL DRIFT SLOWLY EAST AND SPREAD MOISTURE NORTHWARD INTO SE WASHINGTON FRIDAY MORNING AND INTO MOST OF EASTERN WASHINGTON BY SATURDAY. WITH COLD AIR ALOFT THERE WILL BE ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WHERE THERE IS ADEQUATE MOISTURE. THEREFORE...SHOWERS WILL SPREAD INTO THE COLUMBIA BASIN AND YAKIMA AND KITTITAS VALLEYS ON SATURDAY. COONFIELD IN THE EXTENDED...DYNAMIC PATTERN SETTING UP AS THE TROUGH SPLITS IN TWO LATE SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH A NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CIRCULATION. THIS WILL OCCUR AS THE CENTRAL US RIDGE RETROGRADES WEST AND A PACIFIC RIDGE MOVES EAST. THE MAIN LOW WILL REMAIN IN NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA WITH A SOUTHERN CIRCULATION OFF THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST. THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL BE IN WEST TO SOUTHWEST FLOW MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY FOR A WARMING AND DRYING TREND. THURSDAY THE TROUGH ONCE AGAIN POSITIONS ITSELF OVER THE REGION WITH A RETURN OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF TnHUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CENTRAL AND MOUNTAINS WILL BE THE RESULT. MEAD PDT 1333 ALW 1233 PSC 0223 YKM 0223 .KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL. .KPDT...NONE.
The Medford radar (KMAX), 237 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning from a thunderstorm during the afternoon of the 19th sparked a fire that later destroyed a house and its contents.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, July 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: 5260605.