A High Wind Warning was issued for the headlands of Oregon zones ORZ021/022 at 0530 PST on 01/24 and expired at 1020 PST on 01/25. The warning verified at Cape Arago and Cape Blanco, and the highest recorded sustained winds and peak gusts are listed above.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 0530 PST on 01/24 and expired at 1020 PST on 01/25. The warning verified at Cape Arago and Cape Blanco, and the highest recorded sustained winds and peak gusts are listed above. Cape Blanco met high wind warning criteria on all but two observations from 02Z to 14Z on 01/25.
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 24, 7:30 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
830 PM PDT THU JAN 24 2002
CURRENT HEADLINES ARE ON TRACK. AM A BIT SKEPTICAL OF SNOW AMOUNTS
FRI-FRI NGT OVER THE EAST...BUT TIME SECTIONS SHOW CONTINUED UPWARD
MOTION AND DEEP MOISTURE THERE IN SW FLOW. WITH A SLOWING FRONT...
WOULD TEND TO EXPECT A HIGHER POTENTIAL FOR HEAVIER SNOWS OUT THERE
THAN IN A TYPICAL FRONTAL PASSAGE WITH POST FRONTAL NW WINDS. NO
CHANGES ARE ANTICIPATED YET. HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE COASTAL
HEADLANDS HAS VERFIED WITH GUSTS 50KTS AT CAPE BLANCO. WIND HASNT
SHOWN UP YET IN WEED BUT GUSTS TO 45 MPH ARE STILL POSSIBLE THROUGH
EARLY MORNING HOURS. THIS HEADLINE MAY BE EXTENDED INTO FRI MORNING.
SATELLITE SHOWS A SIGNIFICANT WINTER TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE NPAC
WITH THE FRONT CURRENTLY MOVING INLAND OVER SW WA/NW OR. ITS BEEN
RAINING IN COOS CNTY SINCE AROUND 6PM...AND RADAR IS SLOWLY FILLING
IN THROUGH THE SOUTH COAST AND UMPQUA. LATEST MODEL GUIDANCE LOOKS
REASONABLE IN ADVANCING THE FRONT INTO SW OREGON DURING THE EARLY
MORNING WITH AREAS AS FAR SOUTH AS MEDFORD EXPECTED TO MEASURE ON THE
ORDER OF A COUPLE TENTHS OF LIQUID BY 6AM. AM CONCERNED THAT THE
PRECIP MAY INITIALLY COME IN AS SNOW IN A FEW LOCALES BEFORE HEAVIER
RAINS ARRIVE...ASHLAND CURRENTLY 32 DEGREES...MEDFORD 35. THERE LOTS
OF WIND AND SOME WARMER AIR ALOFT WHICH SHOULD HELP MIX OUT THE COLD
AIR ONCE THE PRECIP GETS GOING. WILL MENTION SOME ISOLATED LIGHT
SNOW/RAIN MIX IN JACKSON/JOSEPHINE COUNTIES TONIGHT INCLUDING LOWER
TEMPS. OTHERWISE SNOW LEVELS ACCORDING TO FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOULD
BE GENERALLY 3000-3500 FT.
PRECIP ESTIMATES FROM THE STORM SUGGEST ABOUT A FOOT OF SNOW IN THE
MOUNTAINS AS THE FRONT PASSES FRIDAY...AND THEN LIGHTER BUT STEADY
ACCUMULATIONS IN SHOWERS BEHIND THE FRONT LATER TONIGHT THROUGH
SATURDAY. THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL THAT HEAVIER PRECIP WITH THE FRONT
MAY BE A BIT SLOWER MOVING FRIDAY THAN ANTICIPATED AS THE FRONT
BECOMES ALIGNED MORE N-S OVER OREGON AND A STRONG NW JET DIGS OUT
NEAR 140W. THIS MAY ALLOW HEAVIER SNOWS TO LAST LONGER IN THE
CASCADES AND SISKIYOUS...PRODUCING ACCUMULATIONS BEYOND WHAT THE
MODELS CALL FOR FRI NGT. CURRENT FORECAST ALREADY CALLS FOR HIGHER
AMOUNTS...AND THIS LOOKS OK.
LOTS OF COLD AIR CU ARE LOCATED BEHIND THE FRONT AROUND 40/150 WHICH
WILL BE COMING IN BEHIND THE FRONT WITH VERY LOW SNOW LEVELS FOR THE
AREA LATE FRI NGT THROUGH SAT. SUB 2800M 1000/700 THICKNESS AND 850
TEMPS NEAR -6C...INCLUDING DEWPOINTS IN THE UPPER 20S...WILL ALLOW
FOR VALLEY SNOWS DOWN TO 500 FT. QPF SUGGESTS 1-3 INCHES. SPS WILL BE
ISSUE TO COVER THIS. STAVISH
.MFR...GALE WARNING FLORENCE OR TO POINT ST. GEORGE CA.
HIGH WIND WARNING ORZ021/022 COASTAL HEADLANDS TONIGHT.
WINTER STORM WARNING ORZ025/027/028/NRN 030...CAZ080/081/082
FRI THRU SAT.
WIND ADVISORY...CAZ081 TNGT.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Cape Blanco recorded a peak gust of 65 mph.
Cape Blanco recorded a sustained wind of 54 mph.
Cape Blanco recorded a peak gust of 65 mph.
Cape Arago recorded a peak gust of 62 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: 5277593, 5277592, 5277594, 5277595.