A Frost Warning was issued for the above zones at the above times. Reported low temperatures in the warning area ranged from 27 to 32.
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 Frost Warning was issued for the above zones at the above times. Reported low temperatures in the warning area ranged from 27 to 32. No frost was reported, but it likely did occur. Low temperatures elsewhere west of the Cascades and in Western Siskiyou County were mostly in the 30s (except for Yreka, 26, and Drain and McCloud, 29), so the Frost Warning likely should have been for the entire west side.
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 May 7, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PDT TUE MAY 07 2002
GENERALLY BENIGN PATTERN CONTINUES THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK NEXT
SHORT WAVE PROGGED TO PUSH THROUGH REGION TUESDAY...BUT WITH POOR
MOISTURE AVAILABILITY IN MOSTLY NORTHERLY FLOW PRECIP WILL BE LIGHT
AND WILL MOSTLY CONFINE TO NORTHERN PORTIONS OF CWA. OF GREATER
CONCERN TONIGHT WILL BE FROST AND FREEZE AREAS. REINFORCING SHOT OF
COOL AIR WILL MOVE IN ALOFT WITH MUCH LOWER DEWPOINTS TONIGHT. WITH
LOWS NOT FAR ABOVE FREEZING IN THE ROGUE VALLEY LAST NIGHT AND CLEAR
SKIES AGAIN TONIGHT...WILL ISSUE A FROST WARNING FOR ROGUE VALLEY FOR
TONIGHT. FREEZE IS AGAIN POSSIBLE FOR PORTIONS OF SISKIYOU COUNTY
ALSO TONIGHT. NEXT SHORT WAVE COMES THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY...BUT
AGAIN WITH LIMITED MOISTURE IN MORE NORTHERLY DLOW WILL KEEP THIS
PORTION OF EXTENDED DRY. SVEN
.MFR...FROST WARNING FOR JOSEPHINE AND JACKSON COUNTY TONIGHT.
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CAPE BLANCO OR. TO PT. ST. GEORGE CA.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
See below.
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, May 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: 5296453, 5296454.