A Frost Warning was issued for the above zones effective at the above times. Reported low temperatures ranged from 27 to 41, so it appears that this warning verified.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
A Frost Warning was issued for the above zones effective at the above times. Reported low temperatures ranged from 27 to 41, so it appears that this warning verified.
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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 8, 1:30 AM PST, 3 hours earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 230 AM PDT SUN SEP 08 2002 00Z NGM/ETA/AVN/MRF IN. THE UPPER TROUGH HAS NOW DEPARTED TO POINTS EAST...LEAVING MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES OVER SOUTHERN OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. SOME RADIATION FOG MAY DEVELOP IN SOME OF THE VALLEYS LATER THIS MORNING...BUT THAT WILL BE ABOUT IT. ANOTHER WEAK WAVE WILL MOVE ONSHORE LATER TODAY AND THIS EVENING WELL NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA...AND IT IS ONLY EXPECTED TO BRING SOME HIGH CLOUDS TO THE AREA. A STRONG RIDGE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. AT LOW LEVELS...THE THERMAL TROUGH WILL REDEVELOP ALONG THE COAST TONIGHT AND EXPECT THE MARINE LAYER TO BE IN THE REGENERATION PROCESS BY THEN. EXPECT MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WITH A WARMING TREND EXCEPT ALONG THE COAST WHERE THE ABOVE MENTIONED MARINE LAYER WILL BRING IN OVERNIGHT CLOUDS AND KEEP THINGS COOL. LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER FROST WARNING WILL BE NEEDED TONIGHT EAST OF THE CASCADES BUT THIS IS LIKELY THE LAST NIGHT FOR A WHILE. FROM MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY THE SYNOPTIC SCALE PATTERN CHANGES VERY LITTLE WITH A BROAD RIDGE PARKED OVER THE WESTERN U.S. EXPECT MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES EXCEPT ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE UMPQUA BASIN... AND LITTLE CHANGE IN THE HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES. THE RIDGE IS PROGGED TO RETROGRADE OFFSHORE FRIDAY AND REMAIN OFFSHORE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD...BUT 500 MB HEIGHTS REMAIN ABOUT THE SAME AND DONT SEE MUCH CHANGE IN TERMS OF SENSIBLE WEATHER. STOCKTON .MFR...FROST WARNING TONIGHT...ORZ029/030/031...CAZ084/085.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
See below.
See below.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, September 2002
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: 5320496, 5320497.