A High Wind Warning was issued for the headlands of Oregon zones ORZ021/022 at 0510 PST on 01/01 and expired at 0510 PST on 01/02. The above observations verified the warning.
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 High Wind Warning was issued for the headlands of Oregon zones ORZ021/022 at 0510 PST on 01/01 and expired at 0510 PST on 01/02. The above observations verified the warning. Cape Blanco exceeded warning criteria continuously between 1000 and 1400 PST on 01/01/02.
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 Jan 1, 7:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
830 AM PDT TUE JAN 01 2002
WINDY CONDITIONS CONTINUE IN THE SHASTA VALLEY WITH WEED RAWS
REPORTING GUSTS OVER 40 MPH. HIGHER WINDS YET AT THE HEADLANDS WITH
CAPE BLANCO 45 MPH GUSTING TO NEAR 60 MPH. MEANWHILE WARM FRONTAL
RAINS CONTINUE OVER THE FORECAST AREA. SNOW LEVELS QUITE HIGH NEAR
8000 FT. THE COLD FRONT PUSHES INLAND THIS EVENING WITH A SECONDARY
REINFORCING FRONT EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. AT THAT TIME THE WINDS
DIMINISH CONSIDERABLY. THURSDAY MORNING VERY COLD -30C AIR AT 500MB
CROSSES SOUTHWEST OREGON WHILE 850MB TEMPS ARE JUST -2C. THIS STEEP
LAPSE RATE WILL KEEP POST FRONTAL SHOWERS GOING BUT SNOW LEVELS
SHOULD LOWER ONLY TO 4000 FT OR SO. FRIDAY A SHARP RIDGE BUILDS. A
SHORT WAVE BREAKS DOWN THE RIDGE SATURDAY BUT MOST OF THE ENERGY IS
OVER SEATTLE. AFTER THAT THE RIDGE REBOUNDS.
MO
.MFR...GALE WARNING FLORENCE OR TO PT ST GEORGE CA.
HIGH WIND WARNING ORZ021/022 COASTAL HEADLANDS TDY AND TNT.
WIND ADVISORY CAZ081 TDY AND TNT.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Cape Blanco recorded the first of three peak gusts of 67 mph. The others were reported at 1200 and 1400 PST.
Cape Blanco recorded a sustained wind of 55 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, January 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: 5277473, 5277472.