Extreme Cold in Oregon, September 8 to 9, 2002

Name: Extreme Cold in Oregon, September 8 to 9, 2002
Start: 2002-09-08T04:30
End: 2002-09-09T08:00
Location: Oregon

September 8 to 9, 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 some 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 26 to 36, so it appears that this warning verified...with some areas meeting the criteria for a freeze warning. In fact, a Freeze Warning may have been more appropriate for this event.

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 8, 1:30 AM PST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 8, 1:30 AM PST, 3 hours before

SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 AM PDT SUN SEP 08 2002

00Z NGM/ETA/AVN/MRF IN.

THE UPPER TROUGH HAS NOW DEPARTED TO POINTS EAST...LEAVING MOSTLY
CLEAR SKIES OVER SOUTHERN OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.  SOME RADIATION
FOG MAY DEVELOP IN SOME OF THE VALLEYS LATER THIS MORNING...BUT THAT
WILL BE ABOUT IT.

ANOTHER WEAK WAVE WILL MOVE ONSHORE LATER TODAY AND THIS EVENING WELL
NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA...AND IT IS ONLY EXPECTED TO BRING SOME
HIGH CLOUDS TO THE AREA.

A STRONG RIDGE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY.  AT LOW
LEVELS...THE THERMAL TROUGH WILL REDEVELOP ALONG THE COAST TONIGHT
AND EXPECT THE MARINE LAYER TO BE IN THE REGENERATION PROCESS BY
THEN.  EXPECT MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WITH A WARMING TREND EXCEPT ALONG
THE COAST WHERE THE ABOVE MENTIONED MARINE LAYER WILL BRING IN
OVERNIGHT CLOUDS AND KEEP THINGS COOL.  LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER FROST
WARNING WILL BE NEEDED TONIGHT EAST OF THE CASCADES BUT THIS IS
LIKELY THE LAST NIGHT FOR A WHILE.

FROM MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY THE SYNOPTIC SCALE PATTERN CHANGES
VERY LITTLE WITH A BROAD RIDGE PARKED OVER THE WESTERN U.S.  EXPECT
MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES EXCEPT ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE UMPQUA BASIN...
AND LITTLE CHANGE IN THE HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES.

THE RIDGE IS PROGGED TO RETROGRADE OFFSHORE FRIDAY AND REMAIN
OFFSHORE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD...BUT 500 MB
HEIGHTS REMAIN ABOUT THE SAME AND DONT SEE MUCH CHANGE IN TERMS OF
SENSIBLE WEATHER.

STOCKTON

.MFR...FROST WARNING TONIGHT...ORZ029/030/031...CAZ084/085.

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 8, 4:30 AM PST to September 9, 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 8, 4:30 AM PST to September 9, 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 8, 4:30 AM PST to September 9, 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: 5320481, 5320482, 5320483.