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 Sep 15, 1:30 PM PST, 0 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 230 PM PDT SUN SEP 15 2002 FIRE WEATHER CONCERN TONITE WILL BE WITH PORTIONS OF THE AREA EXPERIENCING BREEZY CONDITIONS AND POSSIBLE SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS PRIMARILY OVER THE EAST SUCH AS THE BLUE/WALLOWA MTNS. MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TOMORROW AND THEN A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THAT WILL INCREASE RAIN CHANCES THRU MIDWEEK. TONIGHT...LOW PRESSURE OFF THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST WAS MOVING MOISTURE NORTH AND INTO THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. THE MOISTURE WILL COMBINE WITH A COLD FRONT MOVING ACROSS THE AREA TO PRODUCE SOME CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY LATE THIS AFTN/EVENING ALONG WITH BREEZY CONDITIONS. DYNAMICS SEEM GREATEST OVER THE EASTERN FORECAST AREA (FOR EXAMPLE 7/5HMBS LAYER LAPSE RATES WERE GREATER THAN 8C/KM AND 850/5HMBS TEMP DIFFERENCES WERE GREATER THAN 30C) THUS I EXPECT THE BEST CHANCES FOR CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT TO BE OVER SUCH AREAS AS THE BLUE/WALLOWA/OCHOCO MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING THAT MAY PERSIST INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. MONDAY...ANOTHER DISTURBANCE WILL ENTER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND A FEW SHRA MAY DEVELOP OVER THE CASCADES AND WALLOWA MTNS LATER IN THE DAY. BUT ALL OF THE FA(FORECAST AREA) WILL BE MUCH COOLER TOMORROW. MONDAY NIGHT/TUESDAY...A THIRD SYSTEM TO AFFECT THE AREA WILL ENTER THE NORTHWEST COAST MONDAY EVENING. RAIN CHANCES SHUD INCREASE ACROSS THE FA FROM WEST TO EAST. THE FAVORABLE REGION OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET (LFQ) WILL MOVE INTO THE WESTERN FA LATER MONDAY NITE INTO TUESDAY AND I MAY INPUT LIKELY POPS/ISOLD TSRA ALONG OVER THE CASCADES OF WA WITH SCT POPS ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. ALSO MID/LEVEL TEMPS(7HMBS) FALL BELOW FREEZING AND SOME OF THE HIEST MTN TOPS MAY EXPERIENCE SHSN OVER THE CASCADES/WALLOWA MTNS. SIMILAR CONDITIONS SHUD EXIST FOR TUESDAY AND THE AVN WAS MUCH STRONGER WITH 850MBS WINDS INCREASING THEM TO 35KTS WHICH SHUD MAKE FOR A WINDY DAY ACROSS THE AREA ESPECIALLY OVER THE DALLES/ELN AND THRU MTN PASSES. TUESDAY NITE...SUBSTANTIAL MID LEVEL DRY AIR MOVES INTO THE WESTERN FA AND SPREADS EAST DURING THE NITE. LOW LEVEL WINDS (850MBS/WINDS) WERE GREATER THAN 30KTS AND THE FA SHUD HAVE BREEZY CONDITIONS. WEDNESDAY...DRY CONDITIONS SHUD START OFF THE DAY BEFORE A SHORT WAVE APPROACHES THE FA. THIS SYSTEM SHUD MAINLY AFFECT THE NORTHERN FA WITH INCREASING CLOUDINESS AND POSSIBLE RAIN SHOWERS PRIMARY ALONG THE CASCADES OF WA BEFORE MOVING AWAY FROM THE AREA BY EARLY EVENING. DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE NITE ANOTHER DISTURBANCE MOVES INTO THE AREA THAT WILL BRING THE THREAT OF RAIN CHANCES FOR THE CASCADES ALONG WITH BREEZY WINDS FOR PORTIONS OF THE AREA. EXTENDED...ANOTHER WEAK WAVE SLIDES DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE TROUGH FOR ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVER THE BLUE AND WALLOWA MOUNTAINS ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. BY FRIDAY...THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TURNS MORE NORTH/NORTHWESTERLY AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE PACIFIC AND AS THE TROUGH DIGS INTO THE CENTRAL U.S. THIS PATTERN PERSISTS THROUGH SUNDAY...WITH DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH THE END OF FORECAST PERIOD. TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO BE ON THE MILD SIDE WITH A GRADUAL WARMING TREND BEGINNING FRIDAY. PALMER PDT 1-33 ALW 1-33 PSC --33 YKM 0-34 KPDT...VCP 32...OPERATIONAL. .KPDT...RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT THIS EVENING UNTIL 11 PM (16/06Z) FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONES 630...632 THROUGH 635...AND 638 WHICH INCLUDES PORTIONS OF CENTRAL OREGON...BLUE...WALLOWA...AND OCHOCO MOUNTAINS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Around 200 firefighters were assigned to the Anniversary fire, which was sparked by lightning on an unknown date near the bottom of Big Canyon. Three engines, one dozer, four air tankers, one helicopter, and two water tenders were assigned to this fire, which burned 290 acres.
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, September 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: 5316322.