Washington, 2001High Wind in Washington, March 13, 2001
March 13, 2001 · NWS PDT · 1 event in 1 county or zone
1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
- 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
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- 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 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 Mar 13, 8:30 AM PST, 5 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 8:30 AM PST, 5 hours before
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
830 AM PST TUE MAR 13 2001
A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM IS BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO THE PAC NW. UPPER
LEVEL FRONT IS MOVING ACROSS EASTERN OR/WA PRODUCING NO RAIN.
SURFACE FRONT IS INTO WESTERN WA PRODUCING LIGHT RAIN. UPPER LEVEL
LOW IS TRACKING OVER VANCOUVER ISLAND. SURFACE FRONT WILL KICK EAST
OF WA CASCADES AROUND MIDDAY. DONT SEE MUCH PRECIP THREAT ACROSS
FORECAST AREA TODAY DUE TO FAST MOVING NATURE OF FRONT. ALSO DUE TO
INCREASING WINDS THIS AFTERNOON. UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL TRACK ACROSS
NORTHERN WA THIS EVENING AND BE INTO MONTANA WEDNESDAY MORNING. BEST
AREA OF INSTABILITY WILL BE ALONG THE PATH OF THE LOW. UPPER LEVEL
RIDGE WILL BUILD IN BEHIND EXITING LOW ON WEDNESDAY.
MAIN CONCERN TODAY WILL BE THE WINDS. MODELS ARE SHOWING LESS
LIKELIHOOD OF A HIGH WIND DAMAGING EVENT FOR TODAY COMPARED TO
YESTERDAYS MODEL RUN. 100-110KT JET WILL PASS OVER THE PAC NW THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. GOOD MIXING AND INSTABILITY WILL TRANSPORT
SOME OF THESE WINDS CLOSER TO THE SURFACE. RATTLESNAKE HAS ALREADY
SEEN AND INCREASE TO 58KT THIS MORNING SO WINDS ALOFT STARTING TO
LOWER. BEST ISENTROPIC DESCENT HAS SHIFTED FARTHER TO THE NORTH
ACROSS NORTHERN WA AND WEAKER. YESTERDAY RUNS HAD IT FURTHER SOUTH
MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN WA. PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL BUILD UP TO AROUND
15 MB ACROSS PAC NW THIS AFTERNOON WHICH IS DOWN FROM 20MB FROM
PREVIOUS RUN. ALL STILL POINTS TO VERY WINDY TODAY BUT APPEARS TO
HINGE ON THE VERGE OF HIGH WIND WARNING. NONETHELESS...HIGH WIND
WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR TODAY AND WILL CONTINUE THEM THROUGH
THE DAY. SOLOMON
PDT 210 ALW 210 PSC 200 YKM 200
.KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP32/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.
.KPDT...HIGH WIND WARNING AND BLOWING DUST ADVISORY TODAY FOR THE
KITTITAS AND YAKIMA VALLEYS...THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN...THE
BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS...NORTH CENTRAL OREGON AND CENTRAL
OREGON...High Wind, Lower Columbia Basin
- When
- March 13, 1:30 PM PST to 4:30 PM PST
- Where
- Lower Columbia Basin forecast zone
- Measured
- 56 kt (64 mph)
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.220, -119.419 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High winds were measured at several locations during the afternoon in the Columbia basin. The ASOS at Pasco recorded sustained winds of 44 mph with gusts of 54 mph at 2:30 in the afternoon. Several sites at the Hanford Reservation measured gusts between 60 and 70 mph. An automated wind sensor at the top of Rattlesnake Ridge (3600 ft) indicated a wind gust of 97 mph at 3:00 pm. Visibilities due to blowing dust were locally reduced to less than 1/4 mile, especially near the Hanford Reservation. Workers there were let out early as State Highway 240 and sections of Highways 221 and 22 were closed for several hours. Just south of the Tri-Cities, Interstate Highway 82 was closed for an hour between I - 182 and State Route 395. These winds also caused scattered power outages in the Tri-Cities area during the mid afternoon. In Richland, 1200 feet of fencing associated with a new housing project was knocked over.
- 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.
- Tornado and Hail in Florida, March 13, 20016 injured · $5.0 million · F1 · 3 events
- Tornado in Florida, March 13, 2001$80,000 · F2 · 1 event
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, March 13, 2001$208,000 · 62 kt wind · 19 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, March 13, 20011 injured · $125,000 · 56 kt wind · 11 events
- High Wind in Washington, March 13, 20012 injured · $80,000 · 1 event
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Maryland, March 13, 2001$61,000 · 57 kt wind · 15 events
- Damaging Winds in West Virginia, March 13, 2001$44,000 · 72 kt wind · 7 events
- Winter Weather in New York, March 13, 2001$40,000 · 8 events
- High Wind in Washington, March 13, 20011 injured · $32,000 · 52 kt wind · 3 events
- Winter Weather in Vermont, March 13, 2001$35,000 · 7 events
- High Wind in West Virginia, March 13, 2001$3,000 · 30 events
- High Wind in Missouri, March 13, 200129 events
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: 5236272.