Oregon, 2001

Wildfire in Oregon, October 17 to 19, 2001

October 17 to 19, 2001 · NWS MFR · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A Red Flag Warning for strong offshore winds and poor RH recoveries was issued for fire weather zones 618/619 (Southern Coos County, almost all of Curry County, and small portions of Josephine County) at 1530 PDT on 10/17/01. It was later extended to zone 620 (almost all of Josephine County and far western Jackson County) at 0730 PDT on 10/18/01.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
4

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 Red Flag Warning for strong offshore winds and poor RH recoveries was issued for fire weather zones 618/619 (Southern Coos County, almost all of Curry County, and small portions of Josephine County) at 1530 PDT on 10/17/01. It was later extended to zone 620 (almost all of Josephine County and far western Jackson County) at 0730 PDT on 10/18/01. This warning only verified completely at one station, the Red Mound RAWS (Zone 618). The Onion Mountain RAWS (Zone 620) came very close to meeting warning criteria. Almost all of the remaining RAWS in the critical zones were located in valleys and thus did not "see" the strong dry ridgetop winds. Overall, this was likely a good warning, but it did not meet the criteria for verification.

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 Oct 17, 1:30 PM PST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 17, 1:30 PM PST, 2 hours before
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PDT WED OCT 17 2001

OFFSHORE FLOW GOING STRONG AND HEIGHTS BUILDING SO EXPECT CLEAR AND
COLD TONIGHT. WILL GO WITH FROST WARNING TONIGHT JACKSON/JOSEPHINE
AND DOUGLAS COUNTIES AS WIDESPREAD KILLING FROST LIKELY. UPR RIDGE
HOLDS OVER THE REGION THRU FRI WITH THERMAL TROF OVR SWRN ORE. THIS
WILL MEAN SUNNY AND WARM DAYS AND CLEAR AND COOL NIGHTS.  OFFSHORE
FLOW WILL DIMINISH ON FRI SO 4BK WILL GET BACK TO NORMAL. WEAK SYSTEM
MOVES THRU FRI NIGHT/SAT WITH SOME MID/HI CLOUDS TURNING THE FLOW
ONSHORE WITH TEMPS BACK TO NORMAL LEVELS. AVN BRINGING STRONGER
SYSTEM THRU LATER SUN INTO MON WITH SHOT OF RAIN. THEN ANOTHER AFTER
THAT TUE/WED. THIS IS A CHANGE FROM EARLIER RUNS WHERE PRECIP WAS
HELD OFF TO THE NORTH..SO NOT SURE ABOUT THE WIDESPREAD RAIN JUST
YET. WILL MAKE SOME CHANGES TO EXTENDED FORECAST AND ADD CHANCE
SHOWERS WEST SIDE AND A FEW MORE CLOUDS EAST SIDE ZONES.

.MFR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM CAPE BLANCO OR TO PT ST GEORGE CA.
       FROST WARNING TONIGHT ZONES 23/24/26

OTH UU 039/066 043/065 047 060000
4BK UU 046/070 044/067 046 060000
RBG UU 035/069 040/071 043 060000
MFR UU 034/073 037/075 041 060000
LMT UU 026/065 027/069 031 060000
LKV UU 029/064 025/068 030 060000
MHS UU 034/068 035/072 038 060000

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Curry

When
October 17, 3:30 PM PST to October 19, 4:30 PM PST
Where
Curry County, Countywide
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.467, -124.215 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Wildfire, Coos

When
October 17, 3:30 PM PST to October 19, 4:30 PM PST
Where
Coos County, Countywide
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
43.185, -124.093 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Wildfire, Josephine

When
October 18, 7:30 AM PST to October 19, 4:30 PM PST
Where
Josephine County, Countywide
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.366, -123.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Wildfire, Jackson

When
October 18, 7:30 AM PST to October 19, 4:30 PM PST
Where
Jackson County, Countywide
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.432, -122.728 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

What these are

Wildfire
A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, October 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: 5270059, 5271730, 5270060, 5270061.