1 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Jul 23, 7:30 PM PST, 1 hour earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 830 PM PDT TUE JUL 23 2002 MORE VERY DRY AIR IS MOVING UP FROM THE SOUTH WHICH WILL LEAD TO INCREASED FIRE ACTIVITY AGAIN TONIGHT. AN ABUNDANCE OF INSTABILITY OVER THE REGION...ALONG WITH INCREASED LOW TO MID LEVEL MOISTURE HAS SPAWNED MANY THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS BECAME SEVERE EARLY THIS EVENING AND PRODUCED UP TO THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH SIZED HAIL. MOST OF THE STORMS HOWEVER JUST PRODUCED HEAVY RAIN AND SOME WIND. THE CONVECTION ACROSS THE REGION HAS BEEN DECREASING DURING THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS DUE TO MUCH DRYER AIR THAT HAS BEEN MOVING NORTHWARD FROM SOUTHERN OREGON. THIS DRY AIR THAT IS MOVING NORTHWARD WILL CAUSE THE FIRE POTENTIAL TO INCREASE AGAIN FROM SOUTH TO NORTH...AND MAY POSSIBLY LEAD TO ANOTHER RED FLAG EVENT FOR LATE TONIGHT OR THURSDAY IF MORE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LITTLE RAINFALL DEVELOP (IE..DRY THUNDERSTORMS). WILL NEED TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THIS AND WILL PASS IT ALONG TO THE MID SHIFT. THE UPPER LEVEL WEATHER SYSTEM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS LOCATED OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST AND IS ROTATING INDIVIDUAL IMPULSES OF ENERGY THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. THE NEXT WEATHER IMPULSE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA ON WEDNESDAY. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE HOT AND UNSTABLE...SO THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY AGAIN. THE BIG QUESTION IS HOW MUCH MOISTURE WILL THERE BE AND HOW WET WILL THE THUNDERSTORMS BE THAT DO DEVELOP. MORE THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED ON THURSDAY...AS YET ANOTHER WEATHER DISTURBANCE ROTATES AROUND THE UPPER WEATHER SYSTEM AND MOVES THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. BY LATE FRIDAY THE UPPER LEVEL WEATHER SYSTEM ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST WILL WEAKEN AND OPEN UP AND MOVE ACROSS THE REGION...AND THEN TO THE EAST. BEHIND IT SOME COOLER AND MORE STABLE AIR WILL FILTER INTO THE FORECAST AREA FOR SOME RELIEF FROM THE HEAT. HOWEVER ANOTHER WAVE OF ENERGY WILL PASS THROUGH THE AREA ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...FOLLOWED BY A NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. AS A RESULT SOME SHOWERS COULD PERSIST...MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...WITH DRYER AND MORE STABLE AIR TO FOLLOW ON SUNDAY. RSC. PDT 3232 ALW 3232 PSC 3232 YKM 323- KPDT...VCP21/PRECIP...OPERATIONAL. .KPDT...NONE.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
658 PM PDT TUE JUL 23 2002
TIME(PDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0303 PM 6 W WAMIC OR .75 INCH HAIL
07/23/02 WASCO REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
930 PM PDT TUE JUL 23 2002
TIME(PDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0520 PM CAMP SHERMAN OR .75 INCH HAIL
07/23/02 JEFFERSON REPORTED BY A NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE IMET.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Several fires, sparked by lightning, south of the Pendleton Airport consumed around 2,000 acres, including one barn. Most of these fires were confined to grass and sagebrush.
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, July 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: 5307264.