Damaging Wind in Oregon, May 29, 2003

Name: Damaging Wind in Oregon, May 29, 2003
Start: 2003-05-29T20:25
End: 2003-05-29T20:35
Location: Oregon

May 29, 2003 · NWS BOI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A cold front moving eastward across Eastern Oregon produced a Severe Thunderstorm with 66 mph winds and very heavy rain fall.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: 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 BOI wrote it up.

A cold front moving eastward across Eastern Oregon produced a Severe Thunderstorm with 66 mph winds and very heavy rain fall.

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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 29, 6:47 PM PST, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 29, 6:47 PM PST, 1 hour 38 minutes before

SOUTHWEST IDAHO/SOUTHEAST OREGON AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO
848 PM MDT THU MAY 29 2003

CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT GRADUALLY INCREASING FROM THE SOUTH AND SW.
MOISTURE HAS ROTATED AROUND FOUR CORNERS UPPER HIGH AND ADVECTED
NORTH THROUGH NEVADA WHILE MID LEVEL SW WINDS HAVE BEGUN TO INCREASE
AHEAD OF UPPER LOW APPROACHING FROM OFF THE CALIF COAST.  SPC
ALREADY HAS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH VALID TIL 06Z IN SCENTRAL
OREGON AS FAR EAST AS HARNEY COUNTY...STORMS SO FAR HAVE BEEN LESS
THAN SEVERE BUT AS OF 0230Z SEVERAL STRONG STORMS HAVE FORMED IN
SERN OREGON AND EWD ALL THE WAY TO TWIN FALLS COUNTY...SO FAR
STAYING SOUTH OF THE SNAKE RIVER.  WHEN THE UPPER LOW COMES CLOSER
FRIDAY AND THE AIR MASS MOISTENS FURTHER...MORE NUMEROUS AND
STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP.  FRIDAY/S ACTIVITY SHOULD BE
STRONGER THAN TODAY/S.  ALL THIS IN CURRENT FORECASTS.  FOR NOW WILL
BE FOCUSING MAINLY ON MONITORING CURRENT THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.

=
L COLIN

Hazardous weather outlook, May 29, 10:18 AM PST, 10 hours 7 minutes before

IDZ011>016-028>030-ORZ061>064-301200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO
530 AM MDT THU MAY 29 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST IDAHO AND SOUTHEAST
OREGON.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The radar

The Pendleton radar (KPDT), 129 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:26 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Baker

When: May 29, 8:25 PM PST to 8:35 PM PST
Where: Baker County, Baker
Measured: 57 kt (66 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.783, -117.817

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, 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: 5378323.