Funnel Cloud, Wallowa
- When
- May 12, 1:50 PM PST
- Where
- Wallowa County, Enterprise
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 45.580, -117.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Funnel Cloud in Oregon, May 12, 2003
1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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
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 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 May 12, 1:30 PM PST, 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 12, 1:30 PM PST, 20 minutes before
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 230 PM PDT MON MAY 12 2003 SMALL SYSTEM OVER THE AREA TODAY WILL EXIT EASTWARD THIS EVENING WITH PRECIP ENDING MOST AREAS BY SUNSET. FAR EASTERN AREAS AROUND WALLOWA COUNTY COULD SEE A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS PAST MIDNIGHT. ALSO A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A EVENING THUNDERSTORM MAINLY OVER THE NORTHEAST ZONES. TEMPORARY FLAT RIDGE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE AREA TUESDAY WITH A RETURN OF WARMER TEMPERATURES. JET STREAM WILL SLOWLY SAG SOUTHWARD ALLOWING A WEAK DRY COOL FRONT INTO THE AREA WED AFTERNOON. THIS WILL PRODUCE SOME BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE BASIN AND WASHINGTON EAST SLOPE AREAS. ALSO SLIGHT INSTABILITY OVER THE NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS WHERE A FEW SHOWERS COULD POP UP ALONG WITH A STRAY THUNDERSTORM. JS EXTENDED...A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN UNSETTLED CONDITIONS WITH BELOW SEASONAL TEMPERATURES. MODELS DIFFER IN DETAILS OF DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH THE TROUGH SO CONFIDENCE IN TIMING AND POPS IS LOW. THURSDAY THE FLOW OVER THE AREA IS WESTERLY SO PRECIPITATION WILL BE CONFINED TO BLUE AND WALLOWA MOUNTAINS. A WEAK DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE THROUGH WASHINGTON THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY AN PROVIDE A SLIGHT CHANCE/CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION OVER THE AREA. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY THE TROUGH WILL DEEPEN AND THE AXIS OF THE TROUGH WILL MOVE INLAND. THIS WILL INCREASE THE CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. BY MONDAY THE TROUGH WILL MOVE INTO MONTANA AND A RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE AREA. SHOWERS WILL LINGER IN UPSLOPE AREAS OF THE BLUES AND WALLOWAS. CLOUD COVER WILL DECREASE AND DIURNAL TEMPERATURE RANGES WILL INCREASE UNDER THE SUBSIDENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE RIDGE. AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL INCREASE DUE TO MORE SOLAR HEATING WHILE MORNING LOWS DROP DUE TO INCREASED RADIATIONAL COOLING. COONFIELD PDT 200 ALW 200 PSC 000 YKM 000 .KPDT...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, May 12, 3:35 AM PST, 10 hours 15 minutes before
ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-131300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 435 AM PDT MON MAY 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.
The radar
The Pendleton radar (KPDT), 131 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:47 UTC.
Event by event
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flooding in Tennessee, May 12, 2003
- Strong Wind in New Jersey, May 12, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, May 12, 2003
- Strong Wind in Pennsylvania, May 12, 2003
- Strong Wind in Delaware, May 12, 2003
- High Wind in North Carolina, May 12, 2003
- Flooding in Indiana, May 12 to 19, 2003
- High Wind in North Carolina, May 12, 2003
- Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, May 12, 2003
- High Wind in Virginia, May 12, 2003
- Strong Wind in Kentucky, May 12, 2003
- Waterspout in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, May 12, 2003
More
Every storm in Oregon in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, May 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: 5356802.