A High Wind Warning was issued for the coastal headlands of ORZ021/022 at 0540 PST on 03/09 and expired 1445 PST on 03/10. The above observation at Cape Blanco records the peak sustained wind and peak gust, but high wind warning criteria was met here continuously between 1000 and 1400 PST on 03/09.
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 coastal headlands of ORZ021/022 at 0540 PST on 03/09 and expired 1445 PST on 03/10. The above observation at Cape Blanco records the peak sustained wind and peak gust, but high wind warning criteria was met here continuously between 1000 and 1400 PST on 03/09. The Gold Beach observation recorded above was the only one there that met high wind warning criteria.
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 Mar 9, 9:04 AM PST, 2 hours 56 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
830 AM PST SAT MAR 09 2002
12Z ETA/NGM IN. 12Z AVN IN THROUGH 84HR.
THE CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS GOOD AT THIS TIME.
THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE HAS BROKEN TO THE EAST OF THE FORECAST
AREA...AND THE NEXT UPSTREAM SYSTEM IS NOW MOVING ONSHORE. CAPE
BLANCO IS NOW GUSTING TO 46 MPH AND WEED IS GUSTING TO 53 MPH.
SO...THE HIGH WIND WARNINGS IN THOSE PLACES LOOKS GOOD. NOT MUCH IN
THE WAY OF PRECIPITATION YET...BUT IT IS ON THE WAY.
THE FRONT WILL MOVE INLAND TODAY AND THE HIGH WINDS WILL DIMINISH
AFTER IT DOES SO. THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF STEADY PRECIPITATION AHEAD
OF THE FRONT...BUT IT IS MOVING AT A GOOD CLIP SO AMOUNTS WONT BE
VERY HIGH OUTSIDE OF THE FAVORED UPSLOPE LOCATIONS...WHICH IS WHERE
THE CURRENT WINTER STORM WARNINGS ARE. WIDESPREAD POST-FRONTAL
SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE NEXT SHORT WAVE MOVES INLAND
SUNDAY...TAKING THE PARENT TROUGH INLAND WITH IT. HOWEVER...IT WILL
NOT SHUT OFF COMPLETELY SINCE RIDGING BEHIND THE TROUGH IS WEAK...AND
THE SURFACE WARM FRONT WILL MOVE UP FROM THE SOUTH.
THIS RIDGE IS NOT ONLY WEAK...BUT SHORT-LIVED AS WELL...AND THE
PROGRESSIVE PATTERN WILL CONTINUE MONDAY AS THE RIDGE MOVES INLAND
AND THE NEXT SYSTEM MOVES DOWN THE COAST. PRECIPITATION WILL DEVELOP
ONCE AGAIN IN NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA LATE MONDAY
AFTERNOON OR EARLY MONDAY NIGHT.
STOCKTON
.MFR...HIGH WIND WARNING......ORZ021/022 HEADLANDS TODAY.
HIGH WIND WARNING......CAZ081 SHASTA VALLEY THROUGH THIS
EVENING.
WINTER STORM WARNING...CAZ080/082 ABOVE 3500 FEET LATE THIS
AFTERNOON THRU SUNDAY.
WIND ADVISORY..........ORZ031 THROUGH THIS EVENING.
STORM WARNING..........COASTAL WATERS FROM FLORENCE OR TO
POINT ST GEORGE CA.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Cape Blanco recorded a sustained wind of 56 mph gusting to 83 mph.
Gold Beach recorded a sustained wind of 49 mph gusting to 76 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, March 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: 5281369, 5281370.