Wildfire in Oregon, September 2 to 3, 2003

Name: Wildfire in Oregon, September 2 to 3, 2003
Start: 2003-09-02T06:00
End: 2003-09-03T18:00
Location: Oregon

September 2 to 3, 2003 · NWS PQR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Herman Creek Fire burned 470 acres in and around Cascade Locks. Three structures (none inhabited) burned.

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.

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Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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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 PQR wrote it up.

The Herman Creek Fire burned 470 acres in and around Cascade Locks. Three structures (none inhabited) burned. About 200 homes were evacuated. No injuries were reported.

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 Sep 2, 2:00 AM PST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 2, 2:00 AM PST, 4 hours before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
300 AM PDT TUE SEP 2 2003

.SYNOPSIS...STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER THE AREA WILL START TO SLIDE OFF
TO THE EAST WEDNESDAY. LOW LEVEL ONSHORE FLOW WILL INCREASE LATTER
HALF OF THE WEEK. A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE PATTERN IS LIKELY FOR
THE AREA FOR THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK AS A STRONG TROUGH
APPROACHES.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...THERMAL-INDUCED SURFACE TROUGH HAS SHIFTED TO THE
COAST. GRADIENTS ARE STILL SLIGHTLY ONSHORE...BUT FLOW SHOULD TURN
OFFSHORE THIS MORNING. THIS SHOULD ALLOW THE AIR MASS THIS AFTERNOON
TO CLOSER APPROACH DRY ADIABATIC... MEANING TODAY SHOULD BE A MUCH
WARMER DAY MOST AREAS. AS UPPER RIDGE BEGINS TO SHIFT E WED...MID AND
UPPER LEVEL FLOW TURNS MORE SOUTHERLY. MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE A
WEAK WAVE LIFTING N WED...SO WILL KEEP CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER
OREGON CASCADES IN AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

.LONG TERM...NO CHANGES. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS... FRIDAY
TRANSITIONAL DAY AS ONSHORE FLOW A LITTLE STRONGER. MARINE CLOUDS
LINGER ALONG COAST WITH SOME MORNING PENETRATION INLAND NORTH IN THE
MORNING. BIG CHANGES START ON THE WEEKEND AS MAJOR SHIFT IN PATTERN
INDICATED. GFS 00Z/06Z/12Z RUNS VERY CONSISTENT AND SUPPORTED BY 00Z
CANADIAN. MAJOR TROUGH DEVELOPS ALONG COAST AS RIDGE IS SHOVED WELL
E. FRONT PUSHES THROUGH AREA LATER SAT AND SAT NIGHT WITH COOL
SHOWERY TROUGH OVER AREA SUN AND MON.

AST 00000 PDX 00010 SLE 00010 EUG 00010

.PQR...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 2, 4:26 AM PST, 1 hour 34 minutes before

ORZ001>013-WAZ019>023-039-040-031430-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
630 AM PST TUE SEP 2 2003

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

.DAY ONE... TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Hood River

When: September 2, 6:00 AM PST to September 3, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Hood River County, Cascade Locks
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 45.519, -121.651 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

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, September 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: 5337648.