Name: High Wind in Oregon, December 15 to 16, 2002
Start: 2002-12-15T18:30
End: 2002-12-16T07:00
Location: Oregon

The toll

Deaths: 0
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, 2:30 PM PST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 15, 2:30 PM PST, 4 hours before

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

SYSTEM OFF THE COAST STILL ON TRACK TO BRING VERY WINDY CONDITIONS
INTO THE REGION TONIGHT. HIGH WIND WARNING WILL CONTINUE FOR TONIGHT
FOR HIGHER ELEVATIONS ACROSS CENTRAL OREGON AND NORTHEAST OREGON.
ALONG WITH THE WIND WILL COME A LIKELY SHOT OF PRECIPITATION. SOME
AREAS WILL BE FAVORED MORE THAN OTHERS FOR PRECIP BUT ALL LOCATIONS
SHOULD AT LEAST RECEIVE MEASURABLE BY MORNING. PROGRESSIVE WEATHER
SYSTEMS WILL CONTINUE THOUGH WEDNESDAY WITH A LITTLE COLDER AIR
ARRIVING WITH EACH SYSTEM. THIS WILL RESULT IN LOWERING SNOW LEVELS
EVENTUALLY GETTING TO NEAR 2000 FEET LATE TUESDAY. THIS WILL NEED TO
BE MONITORED FOR ANY POSSIBLE WINTER STORM WATCH/ADVISORIES CONCERNS
OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. SOLOMON

EXTENDED...ANOTHER STRONG SYSTEM WILL DIVE SOUTHEAST FROM THE GULF
OF ALASKA WEDNESDAY. AS IT APPROACHES THE COAST EARLY THURSDAY...A
WARM FRONT WILL DEVELOP OVER SOUTHWESTERN OREGON AND MOVE NORTHEAST
DURING THE DAY. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE
LESS MOISTURE THAN THE PREVIOUS MAJOR SYSTEMS OF THE PAST WEEK.
WITH AN ENHANCED SOUTHERLY FLOW...SNOW LEVELS WILL RISE TO 3000 FEET
FRIDAY AS THE LOW CONTINUES TO DIVE SOUTH ALONG THE COAST. AS THE
LOW MOVES INTO CALIFORNIA SATURDAY THE UPPER AIR FLOW WILL BECOME
NORTHWESTERLY ALLOWING FOR COLDER AIR TO MOVE INTO THE FORECAST
AREA. SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER TO THE SURFACE FOR SATURDAY NIGHT
AND SUNDAY. HENRY

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, 13 hours 30 minutes 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, Foothills of the Blue Mountains

When: December 15, 6:30 PM PST to December 16, 7:00 AM PST
Where: Foothills of the Blue Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High winds brought power outages to portions of Pendleton, Mission, Pilot Rock, Athena, Weston, Heppner, and Condon. The strong winds also created areas of blowing dust near highway 11, which was closed for about an hour, and along highway 395 between Pendleton and Pilot Rock, with visibilities reported down to less than a quarter mile. Farm equipment was blown over and signs were down on highway 331 near Wild Horse Casino. The winds caused part of the roof to peel off the NWS office in Pendleton. A peak wind gust of 69 MPH was measured by an automated weather station at the Pendleton NWS WFO.

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: 5325511.