Name: High Wind in Washington, March 13, 2001
Start: 2001-03-13T13:00
End: 2001-03-13T16:00
Location: Washington

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.

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: 2
Property damage: $80,000
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, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 8:30 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes 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...

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Yakima Valley

When: March 13, 1:00 PM PST to 4:00 PM PST
Where: Yakima Valley forecast zone
Measured: 48 kt (55 mph)
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $80,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 46.457, -120.739 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A wind gust was measured at 55 mph at Mabton. At the Yakima Airport, sustained winds topped out at 36 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. In the city of Yakima, high winds blew a tree onto a house, starting a fire. In Toppenish, winds damaged the roof of the Liberty Theater. These winds also caused scattered power outages, an automobile accident, and several brushfires during the afternoon. In Sunnyside, visibilities of less than 100 feet contributed to an accident on Van Belle Road, injuring 2 people. North of Selah, winds aided a wildfire that burned 5 acres.

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

More

Every storm in Washington in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, March 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: 5236273.