Heavy Rain in Oregon, March 7, 2003

Name: Heavy Rain in Oregon, March 7, 2003
Start: 2003-03-07T06:00
End: 2003-03-07T18:00
Location: Oregon

March 7, 2003 · NWS PQR · 14 events in 14 counties and zones

An intense Pacific storm brought widespread heavy rains to Northwest Oregon. 23 inches.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 14 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 14

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.

An intense Pacific storm brought widespread heavy rains to Northwest Oregon. Mapleton recorded 3.60 inches, Bonneville 2.90 inches, Lee's Camp, Summit and Scotts Mill each 2.70 inches, Rainbow 2.50 inches and Tillamook 2.23 inches. Many locations reported 1 to 2 inches of rain. These heavy rains were responsible for a landslide that blocked Highway 101 near Cape Cove, south of Heceta Head.

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 Mar 7, 3:00 AM PST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 3:00 AM PST, 3 hours before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
300 AM PST FRI MAR 7 2003

.SYNOPSIS...A FRONT WILL LINGER ACROSS NORTHWEST OREGON THROUGH
FRIDAY NIGHT WITH RELATIVELY LOW SNOW LEVELS. THE FRONT WILL LIFT
NORTH SATURDAY AS A WARM FRONT WITH RISING SNOW LEVELS AND DECREASING
PRECIPITATION. A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA LATER
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING BRINGING MORE PRECIPITATION AND
STRONG COASTAL WINDS. THERE WILL BE SOME BREAKS IN THE PRECIPITATION
NEXT WEEK...BUT ANOTHER ORGANIZED WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND
LATER NEXT WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...AN AREA OF DEEP MOISTURE SEEN IN WATER VAPOR
IMAGERY...WILL LINGER THROUGH FIRST HALF OF THE DAY BEFORE A WAVE
SEEN OUT AROUND 135 W MOVES THROUGH.  SO...SHOULD CONTINUE TO SEE
HEAVY SNOWS EARLY TODAY WITH WIDESPREAD RAIN IN LOWER ELEVATIONS.
WARM FRONT THEN EXPECTED TO LIFT N FRI NIGHT AND SAT...EVENTUALLY
DECREASING PRECIPITATION...AT LEAST TEMPORARILY.  OROGRAPHIC LIFT
OVER THE MOUNTAINS INITIALLY GOOD FRI NIGHT STILL...THEN DIMINISHES
SOME THROUGH SAT.  WILL CONTINUE WSW FOR CASCADES...BUT THINGS SHOULD
BE WINDING DOWN BY SAT.

A LITTLE RIDGING TAKES PLACE LATE SAT LIFTING NORTHERN STREAM N OF
REGION...BUT A SHORT WAVE FROM THE PAC TO MOVE IN WITH A FRONT LATE
SAT INTO SUN BRINGING BACK WIDESPREAD RAINS...BUT WITH SOMEWHAT
HIGHER SNOW LEVELS.

.LONG TERM...AFTER SOME LINGERING POST FRONTAL SHOWERS EARLY MON...
STILL EXPECT SOME UPPER LEVEL RIDGING TO DRY THINGS OUT THROUGH TUE.
BY WED AND THU MODELS HAVE THE DEEPENING PAC TROUGH EASING CLOSER TO
BRING BACK CHANCES FOR MORE RAIN.  OVERALL SEE LITTLE TO CHANGE FROM
PREVIOUS EXTENDED FORECAST.

AST +999+  PDX +9969  SLE ++869 EUG ++769

.PQR...WINTER STORM WARNING NORTH AND CENTRAL OREGON CASCADES AND
        SOUTH WASHINGTON CASCADES THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.
       SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...CAPE SHOALWATER TO FLORENCE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 7, 6:00 AM PST, 0 minutes before

ORZ001>013-WAZ019>023-039-040-081430-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
600 AM PST FRI MAR 7 2003

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

.DAY ONE... TODAY

A STRONG ONSHORE FLOW COUPLED WITH A LINGERING FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL
CONTINUE TO BRING HEAVY SNOW TO THE CASCADES...AND HEAVY RAIN TO THE
LOWER ELEVATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS.  PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER
STORM WATCHES AND WARNINGS (WSWPQR) FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW WILL LINGER INTO EARLY SATURDAY.  GALE FORCE
WINDS ARE EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY OVER THE COASTAL
WATERS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO SKYWARN PROCEDURES.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Benton

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Benton County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.492, -123.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Clackamas

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Clackamas County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.188, -122.221 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Clatsop

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Clatsop County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.018, -123.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Columbia

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Columbia County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.944, -123.088 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Hood River

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Hood River County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.519, -121.651 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Lane

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Lane County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.942, -122.876 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Lincoln

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Lincoln County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.646, -123.908 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Linn

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Linn County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.489, -122.534 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Marion

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Marion County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.903, -122.585 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Multnomah

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Multnomah County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.547, -122.415 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Polk

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Polk County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.904, -123.413 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Tillamook

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Tillamook County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.456, -123.759 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Washington

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Washington County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.560, -123.098 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Yamhill

When: March 7, 6:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where: Yamhill County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.233, -123.308 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oregon in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, March 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: 5344740, 5344741, 5344742, 5344743, 5344744, 5344745, 5344746, 5344747, 5344748, 5344749, 5344750, 5344751, 5344752, 5344753.