1 dense fog, 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 Dec 1, 2:15 AM PST, 7 hours 35 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
215 AM PST SUN DEC 1 2002
THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...WITH LOW CLOUDS AND FOG IN
THE BASINS AND VALLEYS AND CLEAR SKIES IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
THE RIDGE AXIS WILL SLOWLY MIGRATE TO THE WEST...WHICH WILL ALLOW A
COLD FRONT TO DROP DOWN OUT OF CANADA ON TUESDAY. ALTHOUGH MOST OF
THE MOISTURE AND COLD AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL STAY TO
OUR EAST...SOME COLD AIR WILL BE ABLE TO FILTER INTO THE
BASIN...HELPING TO MIX OUT THE LOW CLOUDS AND FOG AND BRINGING A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS TO THE BLUE AND WALLOWA
MOUNTAINS ON TUESDAY. PALMER
EXTENDED...COULD BE A FEW EASTERN MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS TUESDAY
NIGHT OTHERWISE COOLER MOST AREAS AS COOLER AIR SEEPS INTO THE
REGION. COOL AND MOSTLY SUNNY WEDNESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN TO
REBUILD SO EXPECT FOG AND LOW CLOUDS TO BEGIN REFORMING THURSDAY
NIGHT. UPPER LOW MOVES TOWARDS THE COAST FRIDAY AND SATURDAY BUT FOR
NOW THINKING MAINLY SOME INCREASED CLOUDS AND CONTINUED AREAS OF FOG
AND LOW CLOUDS TRAPPED IN THE LOW LYING REGIONS AROUND THE LOWER
COLUMBIA BASIN. SOLOMON
PDT 000 ALW 000 PSC 000 YKM 000
.KPDT...DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN...BLUE
MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS...YAKIMA AND KITTITAS VALLEYS...NORTH
CENTRAL OREGON...AND THE EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE
THROUGH MID-MORNING.
...AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST
OREGON.ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-021500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 500 AM PST SUN DEC 1 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON .DAY ONE... TODAY STAGNANT CONDITIONS ARE OCCURRING UNDER PERSISTENT HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE REGION AND AN AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TODAY. SAME CONDITIONS ARE RESULTING IN DENSE FOG SO A DENSE FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN AND ADJACENT LOW LYING REGIONS THROUGH THIS MORNING. SEE THE LATEST DENSE FOG ADVISORY (OR PDXNPWPDT) AND AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY (OR PDXSPSPDT) FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A STAGNANT WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT RESULTING IN AREAS OF DENSE FOG UNTIL THEN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Freezing fog led to icy road conditions throughout the Yakima Valley. A Montero vehicle rolled over after hitting a patch of ice on Interstate 82 between Zillah and Granger near milepost 54, leading to one fatality, and one injury.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dense Fog, Yakima Valley | 2002-12-01 | 22 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 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: 5325362.