High Wind in Oregon, October 4, 2001

Name: High Wind in Oregon, October 4, 2001
Start: 2001-10-04T15:20
End: 2001-10-04T16:00
Location: Oregon

October 4, 2001 · NWS PQR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

High winds blew a tree down on westside MAX Light Rail tracks near 205th Avenue and Quatama Street, stopping trains for 30 minutes.

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.

High winds blew a tree down on westside MAX Light Rail tracks near 205th Avenue and Quatama Street, stopping trains for 30 minutes.

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 Oct 4, 2:00 PM PST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 4, 2:00 PM PST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
300 PM PDT THU OCT 4 2001

.SYNOPSIS...MILD OFFSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT WITH A BREEZY
EAST WIND NEAR THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE. THE OFFSHORE FLOW WILL EASE
FRIDAY AND BECOME ONSHORE FRIDAY NIGHT. IT WILL BE A BIT COOLER
SATURDAY AS A WEAK FRONT PASSES OVER THE AREA EARLY SATURDAY...NOT
LIKELY TO BRING ANY PRECIPITATION WITH IT. A STRONGER FRONT ARRIVES
SUN WITH A BETTER CHANCE OF RAIN.

.SHORT TERM...1034MB HIGH CENTER OVER CENTRAL BRITISH
COLUMBIA/ALBERTA AND TROUGH ALONG COAST WILL CONTINUE TO BRING
OFFSHORE FLOW TONIGHT AND FRIDAY.  OFFSHORE GRADIENTS WILL RELAX BY
FRIDAY AFTERNOON AS THE HIGH SLIDES EAST OF THE ROCKIES. MODELS IN
AGREEMENT WITH SHIFTING TROUGH INLAND FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOR RETURN TO
WEAK ONSHORE FLOW.  MODELS IN AGREEMENT IN WEAKENING FRONT FOR FRI
NIGHT/SAT...AND LIKELY END UP MORE AS A MARINE PUSH THAN A RAIN
MAKER. PER COORDINATION WILL REDUCE POPS FURTHER FOR THIS SYSTEM.
NEXT FRONT FOR SUN LOOKS WEAKER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS AND WILL CUT BACK
POPS FOR THIS SYSTEM TOO.

.EXTENDED...MODELS VARYING ON SOLUTION SO CONFIDENCE NOT VERY HIGH.
APPEARS THAT THERE IS ENOUGH CYCLONIC FLOW TO LOW CHANCE POPS VERY
NORTH PART OF CWA ON MON.  THEN TUE-THU LOOKS LIKE FAIR FALL WEATHER.
A WEAK SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH ON WED AND WILL MENTION CHANCE RAIN FOR
NORTHERN MOST ZONES.

AST 000 PDX 000 SLE 000 EUG 000

.PQR...RED FLAG WARNING FOR DRY EAST WINDS CASCADES WEST SLOPES.

FCSTR...MH

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Greater Portland Metro Area

When: October 4, 3:20 PM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where: Greater Portland Metro Area forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph)
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, 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: 5271227.