1 lightning, 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.
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.
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 May 27, 8:00 AM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
900 AM PDT SUN MAY 27 2001
WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATING THAT MOISTURE PLUME FROM FILLING CUT
OFF LOW NEAR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HAS MOSTLY SHIFTED SOUTH AND EAST
OF OUR CWFA. SOME OF THIS MOISTURE HAS PROBABLY BEEN ADDED TO THE
MOISTURE PLUME AHEAD OF THE DEEPENING TROUGH NOW ROUGHLY ALONG 129W.
JET ENERGY INTO THE BACK SIDE OF THIS TROUGH CONTINUES TO DIG
SOUTHEAST AND AS A RESULT THE TROUGH IS BECOMING NEGATIVELY TILTED.
THUS EXPECT TROUGH PASSAGE TO BE SLOWER THAN PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED...
TONIGHT OR EARLY MONDAY. THE FLOW ALOFT AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM IS
SOUTHERLY...AND IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO A RAPID EASTWARD MOVEMENT OF THE
SURFACE TROUGH CURRENTLY OVER CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND OREGON. THIS
SURFACE TROUGH SHOULD ACT AS A FOCAL POINT FOR CONVECTIVE
DEVELOPMENT TODAY...AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE APPEARS TO BE INCREASING
WITHIN THE VICINITY OF THIS FEATURE AT THE MOMENT. CURRENT FORECAST
WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE OCHOCO...BLUE AND
WALLOWA MOUNTAINS STILL LOOKS GOOD. MAY ALSO SEE SOME SHOWERS OVER
OTHER AREAS...PARTICULARLY THE BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS AND LOWER
COLUMBIA BASIN. SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS AND PROXIMITY OF SURFACE
TROUGH MAY RESULT IN A STRAY THUNDERSTORM OVER THE BLUE MOUNTAIN
FOOTHILLS...BUT WILL WATCH FOR SOME DEVELOPMENT BEFORE ADDING THESE
TO THE FORECAST. OTHERWI{SE WIND ADJUSTMENTS WILL BE THE MOST LIKELY
UPDATES LATER THIS MORNING. GKH
PDT 321 ALW 321 PSC 210 YKM 201
.KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.
.KPDT...NONE.The Pendleton radar (KPDT), 169 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:09 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning sparked a wildfire near State Highway 22 just south of Mabton that burned around 300 acres. 30 firefighters from surrounding fire districts contained this fire after 6 hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, May 2001
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: 5243257.