A Frost Warning was issued at 1430 PDT on 5/2 for Oregon zones 023/024/026. It expired the following morning.
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.
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 episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
A Frost Warning was issued at 1430 PDT on 5/2 for Oregon zones 023/024/026. It expired the following morning. Most reported temperatures were in the 30s and a few stations dipped below freezing. No frost was reported, but conditions were favorable for frost formation and it is likely that it did form. Some coastal stations in ORZ021 also reported low temperatures in the 30s and the warning probably should have been issued for this zone as well.
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 May 2, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PDT WED MAY 02 2001
OFFSHORE FLOW EVIDENT ON SATELLITE THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL CONTINUE
THRU THU NIGHT THEN BECOME ONSHORE FRI. UPR RIDGE WILL ALSO BE OVR
THE REGION THRU FRI SO THE RESULT WILL BE WARM AND SUNNY WEATHER.
SOME INCREASE IN CLOUDS LATE FRI AND COOLING AT THE COAST AS NEXT
SYSTEM APPROACHES. THIS WEAK FRONT WILL SLIDE THRU FRI NIGHT/SAT WITH
CLOUDS AND COOLING BUT NOT MUCH RAIN. BEST CHANCE OF RAIN WILL BE
COAST..UMPQUA BASIN AND CASCADES. EAST SIDE AND NRN CAL SHUD REMAIN
DRY. STRONG UPR RIDGE REBUILDS SUN-WED OF NEXT WEEK FOR RETURN TO
SUNNY AND WARM CONDITIONS. CLEAR SKIES..LIGHT WINDS AND LOW DEWPOINTS
TONIGHT WILL GIVE COLD TEMPS IN ROGUE/UMPQUA BASINS SO WILL ISSUE
FROST WARNING.
.MFR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FLORENCE OR TO PT ST GEORGE CA.
...FROST WARNING TONIGHT ZONES 23/24/26
OTH UU 038/064 043/064 043 060000
4BK UU 050/080 047/062 043 060000
RBG UU 035/074 039/078 041 060000
MFR UU 033/076 038/080 040 060000
LMT UU 026/066 030/072 031 060000
LKV UU 029/063 030/069 031 060000
MHS UU 034/070 038/074 039 060000The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
See below.
See below.
See below.
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, May 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: 5244040, 5244041, 5244042.