Extreme Cold in Oregon, June 3 to 4, 2001

Name: Extreme Cold in Oregon, June 3 to 4, 2001
Start: 2001-06-03T14:40
End: 2001-06-04T08:00
Location: Oregon

June 3 to 4, 2001 · NWS MFR · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A Freeze Warning was issued this night. Reported low temperatures ranged from 17 to 31 with all but one reporting station verifying the warning.

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 Freeze Warning was issued this night. Reported low temperatures ranged from 17 to 31 with all but one reporting station verifying the warning.

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 3, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 3, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PDT SUN JUN 03 2001

12Z NGM/ETA/MESOETA/AVN IN.

THE AIRMASS REMAINS MORE MOIST THAN EXPECTED WITH SOME CONVECTIVE
DEVELOPMENT OVER COOS AND DOUGLAS COUNTIES.  WILL ADD SOME EVENING
PRECIPITATION TO THOSE AREAS...AND DELAY CLEARING ELSEWHERE.

WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT...BUT IT DOESNT LOOK STRONG
ENOUGH TO KEEP THE MARINE LAYER OFFSHORE.  LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER COLD
NIGHT FOR TONIGHT FOR THE EAST SIDE...AND A COLDER NIGHT TONIGHT FOR
THE WEST SIDE. WILL HAVE TO GO WITH A FREEZE WARNING TONIGHT ON THE
EAST SIDE AND A FROST WARNING FOR THE ROGUE BASIN AND WESTERN/CENTRAL
SISKIYOU COUNTY.

THE UPPER RIDGE TO THE WEST WILL MOVE ONSHORE MONDAY...FLATTENING TO
ZONAL FLOW AS IT DOES SO.  TIME SECTIONS SHOW PLENTY OF HIGH LEVEL
AND SOME MID LEVEL MOISTURE MOVING IN BEHIND THE RIDGE AXIS OVER THE
WEST SIDE MONDAY AND THE EAST SIDE MONDAY NIGHT.  A WEAK SHORT WAVE
EMBEDDED IN THE FLOW WILL SKIM THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING...REINFORCING
THE CLOUD COVER AND CRANKING UP THE MARINE LAYER DEPTH.  DONT EXPECT
ANY PRECIPITATION WITH THIS SYSTEM HOWEVER...OTHER THAN SOME DRIZZLE
ALONG THE COAST.

THE GREAT PLAINS UPPER RIDGE REBUILDS TUESDAY AND HANGS TOUGH THROUGH
THURSDAY.  SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER THE FORECAST AREA WILL ALLOW
SOME HIGH CLOUDS TO MOVE ON THROUGH.  THE RIDGE BREAKS DOWN AS THE
NEXT UPSTREAM TROUGH APPROACHES THE COAST FRIDAY...PUSHING A SURFACE
FRONT ONSHORE AHEAD OF IT.  THE FRONT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE MUCH OF A
RAIN MAKER.  BOTH THE U.S. AND CANADIAN ENSEMBLE FORECAST DIVERGE
TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK...SO THERE IS A GREAT DEAL OF UNCERTAINTY
IN THE FORECAST FOR THE LAST THREE DAYS OF THE EXTENDED.  AT THIS
TIME WILL GO WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN WEST SIDE FRIDAY AND A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS EVERYWHERE SATURDAY AS THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS MOVES OVER THE
AREA.  IMPROVING CONDITIONS FOR SUNDAY AS THE TROUGH EXITS TO THE
EAST.

.MFR...FREEZE WARNING...TONIGHT FOR ORZ029/030/031...CAZ084/085.
       FROST WARNING....TONIGHT FOR ORZ024/025/026...CAZ080/081/082.

OTH BE 044/063 047/060 048 150002
4BK BE 042/066 048/061 049 150001
RBG BE 042/070 047/068 048 150000
MFR BE 038/073 046/072 047 150000
LMT UE 027/064 033/064 036 150000
LKV UE 026/064 032/064 035 150000
MHS UE 036/068 043/067 046 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 3, 2:40 PM PST to June 4, 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 3, 2:40 PM PST to June 4, 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 3, 2:40 PM PST to June 4, 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: 5250555, 5250556, 5250557.