Name: High Wind in Oregon, December 15 to 16, 2002
Start: 2002-12-15T23:00
End: 2002-12-16T07:00
Location: Oregon

The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 Dec 15, 8:45 PM PST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 15, 8:45 PM PST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
845 PM PST SUN DEC 15 2002

THE HIGH WIND WARNING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT SINCE THE WINDS
ARE PICKING UP ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN OREGON AND
SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON THIS EVENING...WITH STRONGER GUSTS BEING
REPORTED ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND IN THE JOHN
DAY VALLEY.  SHOWERS ARE ALSO CONTINUING ACROSS THE WARNING AREA
THIS EVENING AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. AT THIS TIME...NO
UPDATES ARE PLAN FOR THE FORECAST.  PALMER

PDT 6444  ALW 6444  PSC 6444  YKM 6444

.KPDT...HIGH WIND WARNING TONIGHT FOR FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE
        MOUNTAINS...BLUE MOUNTAINS...GRANDE RONDE VALLEY...WALLOWA
        COUNTY...JOHN DAY BASIN...JOHN DAY OCHOCO
        HIGHLANDS...DESCHUTES COUNTY AND NORTH CENTRAL OREGON.

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 15, 5:00 AM PST, 18 hours before

ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-161300-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
500 AM PST SUN DEC 15 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON
AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON

.DAY ONE... TODAY

A HIGH WIND WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE BLUE MOUNTAINS...THE
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS...THE GRANDE RONDE VALLEY...WALLOWA
COUNTY...CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL OREGON...OCHOCO AND JOHN DAY
HIGHLANDS...AND THE JOHN DAY BASIN FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
TONIGHT. WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 30 TO 40 MPH AS A THE NEXT IN A
SERIES OF WEATHER DISTURBANCES MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. IN THE BLUE
MOUNTAINS THE HIGHEST WINDS WILL BE ALONG RIDGE TOPS. IN THE GRANDE
RONDE VALLEY THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE NEAR LADD AND PYLES
CANYONS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.  A SERIES OF WEATHER
SYSTEMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION KEEPING WEATHER UNSETTLED.
BREEZY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED TO LINGER OVER THE AREA. SNOW LEVELS
WILL FALL MONDAY NIGHT...INCREASING THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOW IN THE
MOUNTAINS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Central Oregon

When: December 15, 11:00 PM PST to December 16, 7:00 AM PST
Where: Central Oregon forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

A 57 foot tall Ponderosa pine tree was blown down by the wind onto a mobile home in Bend, killing two people in their sleep. Two additional homes and a motor vehicle were also damaged by the winds. Over 1,500 customers were left without power due to high winds blowing trees onto power lines and poles themselves being blown over. A wind gust of 70 MPH was estimated in Millican.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
High Wind, Central Oregon	2002-12-16	52	Male	Mobile/Trailer Home	Direct
High Wind, Central Oregon	2002-12-16	51	Female	Mobile/Trailer Home	Direct

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 Oregon in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, December 2002

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: 5325448.