This spotter report contained a wind gust that met High Wind Warning criteria. However, after talking to Law Enforcement and emergency officials in Lake County, it was determined that the area of high winds was very small in areal coverage.
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 episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
This spotter report contained a wind gust that met High Wind Warning criteria. However, after talking to Law Enforcement and emergency officials in Lake County, it was determined that the area of high winds was very small in areal coverage. As one officer put it "it always blows there". After reviewing the weather situation, it was also determined that the event would be short-lived. Therefore, no High Wind Warning was issued for this event. No other reports of winds meeting even Wind Advisory criteria were received.
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 Apr 14, 7:30 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 830 AM PDT SUN APR 14 2002 12Z ETA/NGM IN. THE COLD FRONT IS NOW OVER THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA...EXTENDED FROM LAKE COUNTY DOWN TO SISKIYOU COUNTY. THE FRONT HAS BECOME LESS ACTIVE AND SHOULD CLEAR TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. ONSHORE FLOW BEHIND THE FRONT HAS PUSHED A LOT OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INTO SOUTHERN OREGON FROM THE CASCADES WEST. THERE MAY BE SOME EMBEDDED LIGHT SHOWERS IN THIS CLOUD MASS...BUT IT APPEARS TO BE MOSTLY DRY. THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS HAS MOVED TO THE EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING...BUT THERE ISNT MUCH IN THE WAY OF RIDGING BEHIND THE TROUGH...JUST ZONAL FLOW. THE PARENT LOW REMAINS NEAR VANCOUVER AND A SHORT WAVE ROTATING AROUND THIS LOW WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. THE TRAJECTORY OF THIS WAVE GOES OVER A LOT OF WATER...A LOT MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS MODEL SOLUTIONS INDICATED...SO EXPECT THIS SYSTEM TO BE WARMER THAN PREVIOUSLY FORECAST WITH HIGHER SNOW LEVELS. QPFS MAY BE A BIT HIGHER AS WELL...BUT THIS SYSTEM IS STILL A LOT DRIER THAN THE FRONT THAT WENT THROUGH LAST NIGHT. EXPECT A ROUND OF SHOWERS FROM THE CASCADES WEST AND THATS ABOUT IT. ANOTHER WEAKER SHORT WAVE WILL MOVE THROUGH MONDAY MORNING FOR A FEW MORE SHOWERS IN THE SAME AREA. THERE WILL BE APPRECIABLE RIDGING BEHIND THIS SHORT WAVE MONDAY...BUT THE UPPER TROUGH WILL REMAIN OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND THUS THE FORECAST AREA IS STILL VULNERABLE TO SHORT WAVES MOVING DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE TROUGH. THE NEXT ONE OF THESE WILL COME ON DOWN TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING FOR YET ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS...AND A FEW SHOWERS MAY MAKE IT OVER TO THE EAST SIDE TUESDAY NIGHT. STOCKTON .MFR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...FLORENCE OR TO POINT ST. GEORGE CA.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OREGON
904 AM PDT SUN APR 14 2002
TIME(PDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0600 AM BROOKINGS OR
04/14/02 CURRY SPOTTER CU26...2.5 MILES
UP THE CHETCO
RIVER...REPORTED 2.81
INCHES RAIN 6AM TO 6AM
TODAY.
0755 AM GOLD BEACH OR
04/14/02 CURRY CU12 REPORTS 1.77 IN RAIN
OVERNIGHT.
0755 AM SIXES OR
04/14/02 CURRY CU07 REPORTS 2.30 IN RAIN
OVERNIGHT.
0800 AM BUTTE FALLS OR
04/14/02 JACKSON JA45 REPORTED 1.21 INCHES
RAIN 8AM TO 8AM TODAY.
0800 AM WILDERVILLE OR
04/14/02 JOSEPHINE SPOTTER JO38...HWY 199 AT
THE FOOT OF HAYES
HILL...REPORTED 0.44
INCHES RAIN 8AM TO 8AM
TODAY.
0800 AM BROOKINGS OR
04/14/02 CURRY SPOTTER CU14...7 MILES
NORTH...REPORTED 1.78
INCHES RAIN 8AM TO 8AM
TODAY.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Spotter LA20 at Summer Lake reported southwest winds 30-40 mph gusting to 67 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, April 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: 5289764.