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.
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 Oct 16, 1:50 PM PST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 250 PM PDT TUE OCT 16 2001 PROGRESSIVE PATTERN WITH AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING INLAND THIS EVENING. SURFACE FRONT HAS MOVED OVER THE NORTHERN PART OF CWA IN THE CASCADES. FRONT WILL INTO IDAHO BY MIDNIGHT. THERE IS LIMITED MOISTURE WITH THE FRONT BUT DYNAMIC AND OROGRAPHIC LIFT WILL COMBINE TO BRING BEST CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN TO CREST OF THE CASCADES THIS EVENING AND WEST SLOPES OF BLUE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT...WITH POPS REMAINING LOW ELSEWHERE. THE MAIN EFFECT OF THE FRONT ELSEWHERE WILL BE INCREASED WINDS. TIGHT LOW LEVEL PRESSURE GRADIENT AND 25-35KT WEST WINDS AT 850MB WILL CAUSE WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS COLUMBIA BASIN AFTER THE FRONT PASSES. WINDS WILL SLOWLY DECREASE OVERNIGHT. A WEAK SHORT WAVE RIDGE WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA WEDNESDAY TO CLEAR OUT THE AREA. ANOTHER WEAK DISTURBANCE IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL MOVE THROUGH THURSDAY. MOST OF THE LIFT AND MOISTURE WILL BE IN NORTHERN WASHINGTON...BUT THERE IS ENOUGH OVER OUR CWA FOR SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. THE 850 MB WINDS WILL BE MUCH LIGHTER THURSDAY...SO WINDS WILL ONLY BE BREEZY IN FAVORED AREAS LIKE THE COLUMBIA GORGE AND KITTITAS VALLEY. COONFIELD EXTENDED...A FAST ZONAL FLOW EXTENDING FROM THE DATELINE ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE PACIFIC NW IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD. A SERIES OF WEAK SYSTEMS WILL ZIP ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW THROUGH THE 3-7 DAY PERIOD. HOWEVER...EACH SYSTEM APPEARS TOO WEAK FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE COLUMBIA BASIN. SMITH PDT 3002 ALW 3002 PSC 2001 YKM 2001 .KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP32/CSR21...OPERATIONAL. .KPDT...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Locally strong winds varying between 40 and 42 mph were measured by an automated weather sensor (ASOS) at the airport in Ellensburg.
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, October 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: 5271298.