Name: Flash Flood in Oregon, August 5, 2003
Start: 2003-08-05T13:30
End: 2003-08-05T13:50
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: $7,000
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 Aug 5, 1:15 PM PST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 1:15 PM PST, 15 minutes before

NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
215 PM PDT TUE AUG 5 2003

STRONG CONVECTION DEVELOPING AHEAD OF A DISTURBANCE LOCATED OVER
SOUTHWEST OREGON WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTH THROUGH OUR WESTERN CWA
OVERNIGHT. LIFT AND INSTABILITY AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE
TO AID IN THE PRODUCTION OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THIS
EVENING...SOME WILL LINGER THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT OVER PORTIONS OF THE
MOUNTAINS. INSTABILITY WILL CONTINUE OVER THE MOUNTAINS AS THE MAIN
TROUGH ANCHORS ITSELF OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC. AS A
RESULT...ISOLATED MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP
EACH AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY AS WEAK DISTURBANCES ROTATE AROUND THE
MAIN LOW. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO STAY NEAR NORMAL.

EXTENDED...UPPER TROUGH TO REMAIN OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC WITH A
SOUTHWEST FLOW CONTINUING OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST INTERIOR
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH LINGERING MOISTURE FOR
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY. STILL
APPEARS THAT LOW LEVEL ONSHORE FLOW WILL STRENGTHEN OVER THE
WEEKEND. THIS WOULD RESULT IN THE AIR MASS OVER OUR CWA TO STABILIZE
WITH NO SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED. MID RANGE MODELS ARE
PROVIDING SOME VARIANCE IN SOLUTIONS...BUT SUPPORT CONTINUES FOR THE
UPPER TROUGH TO SLOWLY DRIFT EAST-SOUTHEAST EARLY NEXT. IF THE
TROUGH DOES DRIFT INLAND...THIS COULD LEAD TO A RETURN TO A LOW
CHANCE OF SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY AND TUESDAY OVER THE
MOUNTAINS. GKH

PDT 4---  ALW 4---  PSC 3---  YKM 3---

.KPDT...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 5, 3:22 AM PST, 10 hours 8 minutes before

ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-061200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
422 AM PDT TUE AUG 5 2003

.DAY ONE...TODAY

AN UPPER PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO A MOIST AND
UNSTABLE AIR MASS OVER THE REGION TODAY AND TRIGGER WIDESPREAD
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EASTERN OREGON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. SOME
OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH STRONG DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE
HAIL...HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

A MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW PATTERN ALOFT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE
PERIOD. HOWEVER THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE MORE STABLE WITH LESS SHOWER
AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY EXPECTED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY.

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

RSC

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 5, 1:25 PM PST, 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
225 PM PDT TUE AUG 05 2003

TIME(PDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0219 PM    CULVER                    OR   .88 INCH HAIL
08/05/03   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Gilliam

When: August 5, 1:30 PM PST to 1:50 PM PST
Where: Gilliam County, Condon
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 45.378, -120.211 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A thunderstorm produced very heavy rain in a short period of time in Condon. A cooperative observer reported 1.12 inches of rain in about 15 minutes, which led to flash flooding. The flash flood resulted in flooding on Main Street, while mud, rocks, and water spilled over roadways inside, and in the vicinity of Condon, flooding some buildings, and shorting out power lines. The basement of the North Central Education Service District Building collected water that rain gutters couldn't contain. Gilliam county Road Department Employees aided in cleaning and repairing county roads. The property damage from this event is estimated at $7,000.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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, August 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: 5333546.