Hail and Damaging Wind in Washington, June 27, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Washington, June 27, 2001
Start: 2001-06-27T13:55
End: 2001-06-27T15:10
Location: Washington

June 27, 2001 · NWS PDT · 5 events in 1 county or zone

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $215,000
Crop damage: $70 million
Events: 5

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 PDT wrote it up.

Several severe thunderstorms crossed the Lower Yakima Valley, causing tremendous damage to structures and the area's fruit crops. Hail, combined with high winds, bruised or knocked off many of the region's cherries, apples, pears, and grapes. Much of the agricultural damage was concentrated around the towns of Zillah and Toppenish. A representative with the Northwest State Horticultural Council estimated that around 1/3 of the state's entire cherry crop, a 120 million dollar industry, was lost. The storms, which occurred near the beginning of the cherry harvest, threw an estimated 6000 industry employees out of work. Widespread high winds estimated at 70 mph or more damaged several buildings in Grandview and caused power outages that affected around 15,000 customers in the towns of Toppenish, Buena and Zillah. In Zillah, the roof of one home was completely blown away, while in Buena, twenty eight distribution poles and two major transmission lines were downed. A tractor-trailer truck was blown on its side, closing State Highway 22 for 3 hours near Toppenish. Along Highway 97 one mile north of Toppenish, a billboard and many power poles were knocked down.

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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 27, 7:30 AM PST, 6 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 27, 7:30 AM PST, 6 hours 25 minutes before

NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
830 AM PDT WED JUN 27 2001...CORRECTED

WIDESPREAD RAIN AND SHOWERS ARE BEING REPORTED BY BOTH SURFACE
OBSERVATIONS AND RADAR RETURNS THIS MORNING. SOME RAINFALL WAS
HEAVY AT TIMES ALONG THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN WASHINGTON
CASCADES. RADAR AND SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW FAST CLOUD MOVEMENT IN THE
STRONG SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT ..WITH THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH LOCATED
JUST OFF THE COAST. MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE TODAY. THE
ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...INTRODUCING
SOME INSTABILITY. THE WATER VAPOR SATELLITE RETURNS SHOW A
SIGNIFICANT DRY SLOT BEHIND THE FRONT. IF THE CLOUD DECKS BECOME
BROKEN THIS AFTERNOON...RESULTANT SOLAR HEATING OF THE MOIST AIRMASS
WILL COMBINE WITH THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED FACTORS TO PRODUCE
THUNDERSTORMS. SHOWERS WILL REMAIN TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING
UNTIL THE DRY AIRMASS REPLACES THE REMAINING MOISTURE LADEN AIRMASS
AND HIGHER PRESSURE MOVES OVER THE AREA.  FARMER

EXTENDED...A BROAD UPPER TROUGH WILL REMAIN OFF THE EASTERN PACIFIC
OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.  THE UPPER LOW ALONG 50N IS PROGGED TO
MOVE WESTWARD IN RESPONSE TO THE 4-CORNERS HIGH STRENGTHENING.  THE
FLOW WILL BECOME MORE ANTICYCLONIC AS HIGH PRESSURE STRENGTHENS OVER
EASTERN OREGON AND EASTERN WASHINGTON.  DRY AND WARMER CONDITIONS
WILL RESULT.  THE ONLY EXCEPTION WILL BE LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND
SUNDAY AS A FAST MOVING DISTURBANCE MOVES ACROSS EASTERN WASHINGTON
AND EXTREME NE OREGON FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN SHOWERS.  SMITH

PDT +42  ALW +42  PSC +42  YKM +42

.KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.

.KPDT...NONE.

The radar

The Pendleton radar (KPDT), 137 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:56 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Yakima

When: June 27, 1:55 PM PST
Where: Yakima County, 2 mi E of Buena
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $200,000
Crop damage: $70 million
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.433, -120.267

Hail, Yakima

When: June 27, 2:15 PM PST
Where: Yakima County, 20 mi NNE of Sunnyside
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.600, -119.850

Thunderstorm Wind, Yakima

When: June 27, 2:30 PM PST
Where: Yakima County, Grandview
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.250, -119.900

A spotter reported that strong winds blew the doors off a warehouse.

Hail, Yakima

When: June 27, 3:08 PM PST
Where: Yakima County, Mabton
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.217, -120.000

Hail, Yakima

When: June 27, 3:10 PM PST
Where: Yakima County, Grandview
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.250, -119.900

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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 Washington in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, June 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: 5251471, 5251472, 5251473, 5251474, 5251475.