A Flood Warning was issued for the Coquille River at Coquille effective at the above times. 0 feet from 1820 PST on 12/16 until 0225 PST on 12/17.
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.
A Flood Warning was issued for the Coquille River at Coquille effective at the above times. This warning verified as the river exceeded the flood stage of 21.0 feet from 1820 PST on 12/16 until 0225 PST on 12/17. The crest of 21.15 feet occurred at 2000 PST on 12/16.
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 Dec 16, 3:00 AM PST, 5 hours 13 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
300 AM PST MON DEC 16 2002
STRONG SURFACE FRONT MOVING INLAND EARLY THIS MORNING. FAIRLY
INTENSE SURFACE LOW DEVELOPED JUST OFF THE COAST FROM COOS BAY
BEFORE MIDNIGHT AND HAS NOW MOVED QUICKLY NORTHEAST TO NEAR NEWPORT.
EXPECT HIGH WINDS ALONG THE COAST TO BEGIN DECREASING AND WILL
LIKELY BE ABLE TO END THE HIGH WIND WARNING ALONG THE COAST WITH THE
MORNING FORECAST PACKAGE. WIND ADVISORIES EAST OF THE CASCADES MAY
HAVE TO BE EXTENDED DEPENDING ON TIMING. HEAVY RAINS THAT BEGAN
SUNDAY OVER THE COASTAL BASINS HAVE CAUSED RIVER LEVELS TO RISE
SIGNIFICANTLY. A FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTH FORK OF
THE COQUILLE R. UPPER LEVEL WAVE WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS NORTHERN
CALIF TODAY. HIGH SNOW LEVELS WILL COME DOWN TO NEAR 4K BY
AFTERNOON...BUT HEAVIER PRECIP WILL HAVE ENDED BY
THEN. A COOLER SHOWERY PATTERN WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT
INTO WEDNESDAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE NEAR 3K.
EXTENDED...GFS MODEL CONSISTENT BUILDING A RIDGE THURSDAY
MORNING AHEAD OF A CLOSED LOW NEAR 42/135. SURFACE FRONT
APPROACHES FROM THE SW THURSDAY AFTERNOON WITH LIGHT RAIN SPREADING
TO THE SOUTH COAST BY EVENING. GFS MODEL TAKES MOST OF THE PRECIP
SOUTH INTO CALIF. THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. THE CLOSED LOW MOVES
SLOWLY EAST TO THE NW CALIF COAST BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON. UPPER FLOW
TURNS NW SAT THRU SUN DRYING THE AIR MASS OUT SOMEWHAT. HOLTZ
.MFR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FLORENCE OR TO PT ST GEORGE
HIGH SURF ADVISORY COAST
FLOOD WARNING S FORK COQUILLE R
FLOOD WATCH COQUILLE R AT AT COQUILLEORZ021>031-CAZ080>085-171430- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 630 AM PST MON DEC 16 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHERN OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA .DAY ONE...TODAY SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM FLORENCE OR TO PT ST GEORGE CA...SEE PDXCWFMFR. HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR SOUTH OREGON COAST...SEE PDXMWSMFR. FLOOD WATCH FOR MAINSTEM COQUILLE RIVER DOWNSTREAM OF MYRTLE POINT...SEE PDXFFAMFR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES SEE ABOVE. POSSIBLE GALE WARNING FOR THE SOUTH OREGON COAST WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...SEE CWFMFR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. GERIG
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
See below.
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, December 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: 5326155.