Extreme Cold in Oregon, September 7 to 8, 2002

Name: Extreme Cold in Oregon, September 7 to 8, 2002
Start: 2002-09-07T04:30
End: 2002-09-08T08:00
Location: Oregon

September 7 to 8, 2002 · NWS MFR · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A Frost Warning was issued for the above zones effective at the above times. with many areas meeting the criteria for a freeze warning.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.

A Frost Warning was issued for the above zones effective at the above times. Reported low temperatures ranged from 19 to 31, so it appears that this warning verified...with many areas meeting the criteria for a freeze warning. In fact, a Freeze Warning was likely the better product in this situation.

What forecasters said that day

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 Sep 7, 1:30 AM PST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 7, 1:30 AM PST, 3 hours before

SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 AM PDT SAT SEP 07 2002

00Z NGM/ETA/AVN/MRF IN.

THE SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS THAT COVERED MOST OF THE WEST SIDE FRIDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING HAVE DISSIPATED.  MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES ALONG THE
COAST...COASTAL VALLEYS...AND THE UMPQUA BASIN WITH DIMINISHING
CLOUDS ELSEWHERE.

THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THAT BROUGHT IN THE COLD AIR ALOFT...AND THUS
THE FAVORABLE THUNDERSTORM CONDITIONS...IS NOW MOVING ONSHORE AND THE
THUNDERSTORM FOCUS WILL SHIFT TO THE EAST SIDE SATURDAY
AFTERNOON/EVENING.  EXPECT A REPEAT OF WHAT HAPPENED FRIDAY...ONLY
SHIFTED TO EAST OF THE CASCADES.  ANOTHER COLD NIGHT SATURDAY NIGHT
WILL NECESSITATE YET ANOTHER FROST WARNING FOR EAST OF THE CASCADES.

BY SUNDAY...THE TROUGH WILL BE TO THE EAST OF THE FORECAST
AREA...LEAVING US UNDER NVA AS A FLAT RIDGE BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST.
THEREFORE...EXPECT CLEARING SKIES AND A WARMING TREND BEGINNING
SUNDAY...EXCEPT ALONG THE COAST WHERE MARINE LAYER CLOUDS WILL
RETURN.  THE THERMAL TROUGH WILL REBUILD ALONG THE COAST SUNDAY
NIGHT.

THE UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD THROUGH MONDAY BEFORE WEAKENING SLIGHTLY
AS ANOTHER UPPER TROUGH DEEPENS OFFSHORE.  THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT
WILL BECOME PARALLEL TO THE UPPER FLOW AND THUS QUASISTATIONARY WELL
OFFSHORE AS THE UPPER TROUGH DRIVING IT STALLS.  THE OVERALL SYNOPTIC
PATTERN WILL THEN BECOME FAIRLY STATIC WITH THE UPPER RIDGE
PARKED OVER THE WESTERN U.S.  EXPECT THE WARMING TREND TO CONTINUE
UNTIL MONDAY WEST OF THE CASCADES AND TUESDAY EAST OF THE CASCADES
AND IN CALIFORNIA...THEN TEMPERATURES WILL LEVEL OFF FOR THE
REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD.

STOCKTON

.MFR...FROST WARNING SAT NIGHT...ORZ029/030/031...CAZ083/084/085.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Klamath Basin

When: September 7, 4:30 AM PST to September 8, 8:00 AM PST
Where: Klamath Basin forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.686, -121.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern & Eastern Klamath County & Western Lake County

When: September 7, 4:30 AM PST to September 8, 8:00 AM PST
Where: Northern & Eastern Klamath County & Western Lake County forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.740, -121.018 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Central & Eastern Lake County

When: September 7, 4:30 AM PST to September 8, 8:00 AM PST
Where: Central & Eastern Lake County forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.793, -120.387 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oregon in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, September 2002

Sources

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: 5320478, 5320479, 5320480.