High Wind in Washington, November 12, 2002

Name: High Wind in Washington, November 12, 2002
Start: 2002-11-12T05:00
End: 2002-11-12T08:00
Location: Washington

November 12, 2002 · NWS PQR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Cape Disappointment reported gusts to 60 mph as a strong Pacific cold front moved across the area.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 PQR wrote it up.

Cape Disappointment reported gusts to 60 mph as a strong Pacific cold front moved across the area.

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 Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 12, 2:30 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 12, 2:30 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
230 AM PST TUE NOV 12 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG COLD FRONT JUST OFFSHORE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE
COAST AND INLAND THIS MORNING. THIS FRONT WILL PRODUCE SOUTHERLY
WINDS TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 55 MPH ALONG THE SHORELINE THIS
MORNING AND SPREAD RAIN INLAND ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. A
WEAKER FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND A SERIES
OF WEATHER SYSTEMS WILL CONTINUE THE PARADE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA
THIS WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...A DEEP SURFACE LOW PRESSURE AREA OF AROUND 975 MB WAS
OFFSHORE NEAR 49 NORTH AND 136 WEST AT 10 PM THIS EVENING AND SEEMED
WELL MODELED BY THE AVIATION MODEL. THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL BE
NEAR THE COAST AROUND 5 AM THIS MORNING AND WILL MOVE ACROSS THE
FORECAST AREA TODAY. AVIATION AND MESOETA MODEL BOUNDARY LAYER OUTPUT
SHOW POTENTIAL FOR WIND GUSTS TO AROUND 55 MPH AT THE COAST AHEAD OF
THE FRONT THIS MORNING. OFFSHORE BUOY 005 ABOUT 340 MILES WEST OF
ASTORIA SHOWED 30 FOOT SEAS AND 62 KT GUSTS AT 0150 AM THIS MORNING
BUT MOST OF THAT ENERGY WILL BE DIRECTED TO THE NORTH. LOCAL COMBINED
SEAS WILL JUMP UP QUICKLY TO 16 TO 20 FEET OVER THE COASTAL WATERS
TODAY AS GALE FORCE WINDS DEVELOP. RAIN WILL TURN TO SHOWERS IN
COOLER UNSTABLE AIR MASS PST FRONTAL AIR MASS LATER TODAY. SHOWERS
SHOULD BE RELATIVELY INFREQUENT TONIGHT AND WED AS FLAT RIDGING MOVES
ONSHORE...THEN NEW AVN SHOWS A WEAKER FRONT BRINGING FRONTAL RAIN
MOVING ONSHORE LATE WED AFTERNOON AND ACROSS AREA
WED NIGHT.

.LONG TERM...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BRING BRIEF DRYING ON FRIDAY
THEN ANOTHER COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INLAND SATURDAY. WITH
ADDITIONAL WEATHER SYSTEMS PARADING INLAND SUNDAY AND MONDAY. WILLSON

AST +8883  PDX +8573  SLE +8573  EUG +8563

.PQR...GALE WARNING CAPE SHOALWATER TO FLORENCE TONIGHT.

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 12, 4:48 AM PST, 12 minutes before

ORZ001>013-WAZ019>023-039-040-131430-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
630 AM PST TUE NOV 12 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND
NORTHWEST OREGON.

.DAY ONE...

A GALE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR COASTAL WATERS THIS MORNING.

.INSTRUCTIONS TO SPOTTERS...

NO SPECIFIC REPORTS ARE REQUESTED. SHOULD UNEXPECTED CONDITIONS OCCUR
FOLLOW NORMAL CALL IN CRITERIA. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS
THE COAST THIS MORNING AND INLAND TODAY. BE ALERT TO WINDS THAT
MAY DEVELOP ALONG NEAR THE COLD FRONT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

A SERIES OF PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEMS ARE FORECAST TO AFFECT NORTHWEST
OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON TODAY THROUGH MONDAY. THESE SYSTEMS
MAY BRING WINDY CONDITIONS TO THE COAST AS A COLD FRONTS APPROACH.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, South Coast

When: November 12, 5:00 AM PST to 8:00 AM PST
Where: South Coast forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Washington in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, November 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: 5323461.