1 high wind, 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 27, 3:00 AM PST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
300 AM PST FRI DEC 27 2002
AN ESTIMATED 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW HAS FALLEN IN THE KITTITAS
VALLEY WITH LESSER AMOUNTS IN THE YAKIMA VALLEY. KPDT RADAR SHOWS
PRECIPITATION DECREASING IN THOSE AREAS. THUS WILL CANCEL THE SNOW
ADVISORY FOR THE YAKIMA AND KITTITAS VALLEYS.
A VIGOROUS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND ACROSS WASHINGTON
TODAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL INCREASE PRESSURE GRADIENTS TODAY OVER NORTH
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AND SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
WASHINGTON.
WINDS IN THE GRANDE RONDE VALLEY WILL BE A CONCERN TODAY. ALTHOUGH
WINDS ARE CURRENTLY BELOW HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA IN LADD
CANYON...SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS IN THE GRANDE RONDE VALLEY WILL
INCREASE THIS MORNING AND STRONGER WINDS ARE EXPECTED LATER THIS
MORNING. WILL THEREFORE KEEP THE HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH
THIS MORNING FOR THE GRANDE RONDE VALLEY.
TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENTS ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS ALOFT...ASSOCIATED
WITH A MID LEVEL JET OF 70-90 MPH WINDS NEAR 10000 FEET...WILL
RESULT IN VERY WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE REGION TODAY. WILL ISSUE
A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR MOST OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
WASHINGTON AND NORTHEAST OREGON FOR TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING.
SNOW LEVELS WILL INCREASE TO 6500 FEET TODAY WITH SLIGHTLY COLDER
AIR SPREADING EAST OF THE CASCADES TONIGHT LOWERING SNOW LEVELS TO
3500 FEET BY LATE TONIGHT. A STRONG SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL
MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY NIGHT WITH GOOD
MOISTURE AND LIFT. WILL ISSUE A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR HEAVY SNOW
FOR SATURDAY NIGHT FOR THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND WALLOWA COUNTY.
EXTENDED...A RELATIVELY TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT SUNDAY NIGHT WILL
PRODUCE BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS. HOWEVER...WINDS SHOULD REMAIN
BELOW WARNING CRITERIA. THE PROGRESSIVE PATTERN WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH THE EXTENDED AS A SERIES OF WEAKER SYSTEMS MOVES THROUGH
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST ABOUT EVERY 24 HOURS OR SO. TEMPERATURES WILL
REMAIN NEAR NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. HENRY
PDT 763 ALW 763 PSC 642 YKM 762
.KPDT...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE GRANDE RONDE VALLEY FOR THIS
MORNING THROUGH 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON.
...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR THE
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS...THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN
AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS (WASHINGTON ZONES 28...29 AND 30 AND
OREGON ZONES 44...45 AND 46).
...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR SATURDAY NIGHT FOR THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
(WASHINGTON ZONE 30 AND OREGON ZONE 46) AND FOR WALLOWA
COUNTY (OREGON ZONE 50).ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-281430- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 500 AM PST FRI DEC 27 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON .DAY ONE...TODAY AN INTENSE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST ALONG THE COAST OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON. THIS EVENING...THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO BRITISH COLUMBIA. AS IT MOVES ALONG ITS TRACK...PRESSURE GRADIENTS ARE TIGHTENING SIGNIFICANTLY AND ARE ALLOWING FOR WINDY CONDITIONS TO DEVELOP. ALSO...A LOWER TO MIDDLE LEVEL JET STREAM IS EXPECTED TO MIX DOWN TO THE SURFACE LATE THIS MORNING. THIS WILL INCREASE WIND SPEEDS TO BE ABOVE WARNING CRITERIA BY AFTERNOON. AS A RESULT...A HIGH WIND WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN OREGON AND ALSO FOR SOUTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON. SEE THE LATEST HIGH WIND WARNING PDXNPWPDT OR WWUS76 KPDT FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A SECOND INTENSE WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO MOVE INTO CENTRAL OREGON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. BY EVENING...SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP TO 2000 FEET. THE ANTICIPATED NORTHEAST TRACK OF THE SYSTEM...ALONG WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE...SUGGESTS THAT THE BLUE MOUNTAINS WILL SEE 8 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW FALL SATURDAY NIGHT WHILE THE NORTH FACING SLOPES OF THE WALLOWA MOUNTAINS WILL SEE 6 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW FALL. AFTER MIDNIGHT...SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP TO 1500 FEET...THUS ALLOWING FOR SNOW TO ACCUMULATE IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE FOOTHILLS WILL SEE AS MUCH AS 3 INCHES OF SNOW FALL. FOR THE PERIOD SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. HENRY
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A peak wind gust of 63 MPH from the southwest was measured at KHMS (Hanford Meteorological Station, Hanford, WA).
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: 5325514.