Damaging Wind in Oregon, May 14, 2001

Name: Damaging Wind in Oregon, May 14, 2001
Start: 2001-05-14T16:00
End: 2001-05-14T17:00
Location: Oregon

May 14, 2001 · NWS PQR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Portland Oregonian newspaper reported 2200 people lost power for 2 hours when wind from a thunderstorm felled limbs across power lines.

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.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 PQR wrote it up.

The Portland Oregonian newspaper reported 2200 people lost power for 2 hours when wind from a thunderstorm felled limbs across power lines.

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 May 14, 2:00 PM PST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 14, 2:00 PM PST, 2 hours before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
300 PM PDT MON MAY 14 2001

WAVE ON FRONT APPROACHING COAST PUSHES THROUGH MOST OF AREA TONIGHT
WITH ZONE MOVING TO FAR S PART OF AREA AND SW ORE.  STRONG GRADIENTS
ON COAST NOW MAINLY CENTRAL COAST THIS AFTERNOON RELAX THIS EVENING
AS WAVE MOVES ASHORE.  SYSTEM DRIVEN BY STRONG 150 KT JET WITH JET
STARTING TO PUNCH ASHORE INTO NW ORE THIS EVE.  HIGH PW PUSH S WITH
WAVE WITH AREAS OF HEAVY PCPN DECREASING TONIGHT.  RAIN TURNS TO
SCATTERED SHOWERS MOST AREAS BY 06Z EXCEPT FAR S WHERE PERIODS OF
RAIN CONTINUE.  AVN WEAKER AND SLOWER ON NEXT WAVE FOR TUE WITH
ETA/NGM MUCH STRONGER.  WITH SYSTEM COMING FROM BOUNDARY EDGE AVN
SHOULD BE BETTER BUT WILL COMPROMISE BETWEEN AVN/ETA.  ETA/NGM BRING
HIGH PW BACK TOO FAR N AHEAD OF NEXT SYSTEM.  WITH JET OVER NW ORE
CANT BELIEVE HIGH PW ANYWHERE N OF JET.  AVN LOOK SLOW BRINGING RAIN
BACK OVER NW ORE TUE.  WITH VERTICAL MOTIONS INCREASING BY MIDDAY
EXPECT RAIN ALL AREA TUE AFTERNOON.  850 FLOW VERY SOUTHERLY TUE SO
EXPECT ANY HEAVY RAIN S COASTAL AREAS AND S MOUNTAINS WHERE FLOW IS
MORE SW.  FLOW TURNS MORE WESTERLY AS FRONT MOVES ASHORE TUE NIGHT
GIVING BETTER PCPN POTENTIAL ALL AREAS BEFORE FRONT MOVES E OF AREA
EARLY WED MORNING.  HIGH PRES BUILDS IN BEHIND FRONT.  FLOW STILL
CYCLONIC ENOUGH TO LEAVE SOME SHOWERS MAINLY COAST AND MOUNTAINS WED
MORNING.  ETA LEAVES THREAT ALL DAY FAR N BUR BELIEVE HEIGHTS RISE
ENOUGH TO KEEP ANY AFTERNOON SHOWERS OVER N COAST RANGE AND WA
MOUNTAINS.  HIGH PRES STILL OFF SHORE ENOUGH THU TO BRING BACK SOME
MORNING CLOUDS BEFORE SUNNY WEATHER RETURNS.  FLOW SPLITTING AROUND
ORE FRI ALLOWS HIGH PRES TO BUILD INLAND AND THERMAL TROUGH TO BUILD
N.  CANADIAN MUCH STRONGER WITH TROUGH IN GULF ON SAT THEN EURO/MRF.
RIDGE STRONG ENOUGH ON MRF TO KEEP N BRANCH N ON SUN AND STILL STRONG
ENOUGH FOR DRY WEATHER ON MON.  KOSOVITZ

AST 9895 PDX +894 SLE +893 EUG +993

.KPDX...GALE WARNING TILLAMOOK HEAD TO FLORENCE.
        SCA CAPE SHOALWATER TO TILLAMOOK HEAD.

The radar

The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:05 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Multnomah

When: May 14, 4:00 PM PST to 5:00 PM PST
Where: Multnomah County, Portland
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 45.547, -122.415 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, May 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: 5243154.