Name: Dust Devil in Oregon, April 2, 2003
Start: 2003-04-02T10:15
End: 2003-04-02T12:00
Location: Oregon

Where it happened

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.

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: $10,000
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 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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 2, 9:15 AM PST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 2, 9:15 AM PST, 1 hour before

NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
915 AM PST WED APR 2 2003

SHOWERY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION FOR THE NEXT
COUPLE OF DAYS IN RESPONSE TO AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH SLOWLY SHIFTING
EAST ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.  ADDITIONALLY...THERE WILL BE A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AS AN UNSTABLE AIR
MASS DEVELOPS OVER THE AREA.  THIS WILL BE ENHANCED AS A COLD POOL
ALOFT MOVES THROUGH.  CONVECTIVE SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS
WILL CHANGE TO RAIN OR A RAIN/SNOW MIX IN SOME LOCATIONS THIS
AFTERNOON...KEEPING SNOW AMOUNTS BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS IN MOST
LOCATIONS.  ALL HANDLED WELL IN CURRENT FORECAST...WILL UPDATE TO
REMOVE MORNING WORDING.  MJB.

PDT 534  ALW 534  PSC 434  YKM 434

.KPDT...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 2, 5:00 AM PST, 5 hours 15 minutes before

ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-031300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
500 AM PST WED APR 2 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON
AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON

.DAY ONE...TODAY
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

A COOL MOIST AIR MASS WILL PROVIDE SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS
OVER THE AREA TODAY WITH SNOW SHOWERS GENERALLY ABOVE 3000 FEET.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

A MOIST UNSETTLED PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE SEVEN DAY
PERIOD.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Devil, Deschutes

When: April 2, 10:15 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: Deschutes County, Redmond
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.915, -121.228 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A strong dust devil blew a piece of metal roofing into power lines at a local furniture store. The dust devil tore through Umatilla Park and Sports Complex, destroying five baseball dugouts. Sagebrush and papers were reported to the height of power poles, and power was locally lost for three hours.

What these are

Dust Devil: A small rotating column of dust from surface heating that caused damage or injury.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, April 2003

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: 5353731.