Extreme Cold in Oregon, June 2 to 3, 2001

Name: Extreme Cold in Oregon, June 2 to 3, 2001
Start: 2001-06-02T14:17
End: 2001-06-03T08:00
Location: Oregon

June 2 to 3, 2001 · NWS MFR · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A Frost Warning was issued for this night. Reported low temperatures ranged from 25 to 34.

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

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 MFR wrote it up.

A Frost Warning was issued for this night. Reported low temperatures ranged from 25 to 34. Two stations met freeze warning criteria. No frost was reported, but it likely formed this night. A Freeze Warning may have been more appropriate, but it was a borderline situation.

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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 2, 1:30 PM PST, 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 2, 1:30 PM PST, 47 minutes before

SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PDT SAT JUN 02 2001

12Z ETA/MESOETA/NGM/AVN IN.

MAJOR ONSHORE MARINE PUSH THIS MORNING WITH STRATOCUMULUS OVER MOST
OF SOUTHWEST OREGON FROM THE COAST TO THE CASCADE CREST.  SOME
STRATUS HAS EVEN MADE IT OVER TO THE EAST SIDE IN NORTHERN KLAMATH
COUNTY.  MOSTLY CLEAR OVER THE REST OF SOUTHERN OREGON/NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA.

AN UPPER TROUGH IS CURRENTLY OVER THE FORECAST AREA WITH ONE MORE
SHORT WAVE NOW MOVING INTO NORTHWEST OREGON.  THIS WILL CAUSE THE
TROUGH TO DIG A BIT DEEPER INTO EASTERN OREGON.  DONT EXPECT MUCH
FROM THIS SHORT WAVE OTHER THAN A GENERAL ENHANCEMENT OF WHAT IS
HAPPENING NOW...AND MAYBE SOME DRIZZLE AND/OR A LIGHT SHOWER ALONG
THE COAST...ENDING BY THIS EVENING.  THE STRONGEST ONSHORE LOW LEVEL
FLOW FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

ONCE THAT FEATURE MOVES THROUGH THERE IS NOTHING BUT RIDGING FOR THE
NEXT FEW DAYS.  THE RIDGE IS NOT PARTICULARLY STRONG...IT IS QUITE
FLAT BY THE TIME THE AXIS MOVES OVER THE FORECAST AREA MONDAY NIGHT.
THE TIME SECTIONS SHOW SOME MIDDLE LEVEL CLOUDS MOVING THROUGH SUNDAY
AND SUNDAY NIGHT WITH SOME WARM ADVECTION...SO WILL ADD THOSE TO THE
FORECAST.  OTHERWISE...EXPECT HIGH CLOUDS TO PERIODICALLY MOVE
THROUGH THE RIDGE AND OVER THE FORECAST AREA.  ALSO EXPECT A GENERAL
DRYING AND WARMING TREND INLAND.  ALONG THE COAST...THE MARINE LAYER
SHOULD THIN OUT A BIT AS THE RIDGING FORCES THE MARINE INVERSION TO
SUBSIDE.  IT NOW LOOKS LIKE THE LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW SUNDAY NIGHT
WILL BE MINIMAL...NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP THE MARINE LAYER OFFSHORE.

EXTENDED...THROUGH FRIDAY...A STRONG UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE
GREAT PLAINS WHILE A TROUGH DIGS OFFSHORE BETWEEN 130W AND 140W.
HEIGHTS REMAIN HIGH OVER THE FORECAST AREA SO EXPECT DRY WEATHER WITH
A SLOWLY INCREASING MARINE LAYER DURING THIS TIME.  THE UPPER TROUGH
WILL FINALLY MOVE ONSHORE SATURDAY...WEAKENING RAPIDLY AS IT DOES SO.
THICKNESSES DO DROP ABOUT 30-60M AS IT MOVES THROUGH THOUGH...SO
WOULD NORMALLY EXPECT THE MARINE LAYER DEPTH TO INCREASE...STRONGER
ONSHORE FLOW...AND SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES.  HOWEVER...GUIDANCE
INDICATES LITTLE CHANGE SO THE MAIN CHANGE MAY ACTUALLY OCCUR ON
SUNDAY.  GIVEN THE UNCERTAINTY...WILL GO WITH LITTLE CHANGE THROUGH
THE EXTENDED PERIOD.

STOCKTON

.MFR...FROST WARNING...TONIGHT FOR ORZ029/030/031 AND CAZ084/085.

OTH BB 046/063 046/064 048 150000
4BK BB 047/067 050/066 049 150000
RBG BB 045/067 045/075 048 150000
MFR BU 042/070 042/078 047 150000
LMT BU 033/061 033/069 038 150000
LKV BU 033/061 033/069 038 150000
MHS BU 040/067 040/075 045 150000

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Klamath Basin

When: June 2, 2:17 PM PST to June 3, 8:00 AM PST
Where: Klamath Basin forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.686, -121.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern & Eastern Klamath County & Western Lake County

When: June 2, 2:17 PM PST to June 3, 8:00 AM PST
Where: Northern & Eastern Klamath County & Western Lake County forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.740, -121.018 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Central & Eastern Lake County

When: June 2, 2:17 PM PST to June 3, 8:00 AM PST
Where: Central & Eastern Lake County forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.793, -120.387 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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, June 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: 5250483, 5250484, 5250485.