Name: Damaging Wind in Oregon, September 15, 2001
Start: 2001-09-15T17:24
End: 2001-09-15T18:10
Location: Oregon

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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Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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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 MFR wrote it up.

Based on WSR-88D data, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for southern and southeastern Josephine County effective during the above date and times. The life cycle of this storm occurred over a remote sparsely populated area with no spotters nearby. Reports were solicited, but no verifying reports were received.

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 Sep 15, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 15, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours 54 minutes before

SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PDT SAT SEP 15 2001

SUBSIDENCE IS BEGINNING TO TAKE OVER BEHIND THE UPPER LOW THAT MOVED
ACROSS OUR AREA THIS MORNING. THE AIR MASS IS STILL MOIST LOW LEVEL
SO THIS EVENING THERE MAY BE SOME REDEVELOPMENT TAKING PLACE.
CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL TEMPERATURES ARE LOW ENOUGH THAT LATE DAY
HEATING WILL AID DEVELOPMENT. ANY ACTIVITY WILL BE SHORT-LIVED AND
ISOLATED THOUGH. NEXT TROUGH OFFSHORE TO WEAKEN AND CROSS OUR AREA
SUNDAY. DYNAMICS WITH THIS TROUGH ARE VERY WEAK SO I WOULD NOT EXPECT
A REPEAT OF TODAYS EARLY MORNING CONVECTION. IN FACT STABILITY
INDICES WOULD INDICATE THAT ACTIVITY SHOULD BE LATER SUNDAY OVER AND
EAST OF THE CASCADES. HOWEVER...CANT RULE OUT EARLIER IN THE DAY
ACTIVITY INLAND FROM THE COAST GIVEN THE HIGH DEWPOINT...POTENTIAL
HIGH CAPE SITUATION. THEREAFTER WEAK RIDGING TAKES PLACE.  MONDAY
COULD STILL SEE AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM FAR EASTERN
SECTIONS...OTHERWISE MOST OF NEXT WEEK WILL BE SEASONABLY WARM AND
MOSTLY CLEAR.  TOWARDS THE END OF THE WEEK TEMPS MAY COOL AS MOST
GUIDANCE SHOWS AN INCREASE IN WESTERLY FLOW ACROSS SOUTHERN OREGON
GETTMAN

.MFR...NONE.

OTH EB 050/064 050/065 051 031100
4BK EB 050/063 050/065 050 031100
RBG BB 057/081 055/083 055 031220
MFR BU 058/085 055/088 055 032220
LMT BB 044/078 043/082 043 033332
LKV BB 045/076 044/079 044 033432
MHS BU 049/077 049/081 049 033321

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Josephine

When: September 15, 5:24 PM PST to 6:10 PM PST
Where: Josephine County, Selma
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.366, -123.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

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

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, September 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: 5267373.