Wildfire, Curry
- When
- September 25, 7:10 AM PST to September 26, 7:30 AM PST
- Where
- Curry County, Countywide
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 42.467, -124.215 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
See below.
Wildfire in Oregon, September 25 to 26, 2003
A Red Flag Warning was issued effective at the above times for fire weather zone 618, which covers the Curry county coast. This warning was for an expected offshore wind event with poor RH recoveries.
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 happened
The episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
A Red Flag Warning was issued effective at the above times for fire weather zone 618, which covers the Curry county coast. This warning was for an expected offshore wind event with poor RH recoveries. None of the RAWS stations in the area verified the warning, but Red Mound came close, just barely missing the windspeed criteria but easily verifying the RH criteria.
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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 25, 2:20 AM PST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 25, 2:20 AM PST, 4 hours 50 minutes before
SOUTHWEST OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD, OR 320 AM PDT THU SEP 25 2003 SATELLITE AND OBSERVATIONS CONTINUE TO SHOW AREAS OF FOG AND LOW STRATUS ALONG THE COAST...ALTHOUGH CLOUDS APPEAR TO BE THINNING NEAR BROOKINGS WITH SOME OFFSHORE FLOW APPARENTLY SETTING UP. REMAINDER OF CWA UNDER CLEAR SKIES. CLOUDS AND FOG SHOULD CONTINUE NEAR NORTH BEND THROUGH MID MORNING THEN LIFT AND CLEAR BY LATE MORNING AS NORTH-SOUTH PRESSURE GRADIENT BUILDS AND INCREASING NORTHERLY WINDS KICK IN. AN OFFSHORE PATTERN IN THE WORKS BY THIS AFTERNOON CONTINUING INTO EARLY FRIDAY AFTERNOON EXPECTED TO KEEP SKIES CLEAR ...EVEN AT THE COAST. TEMPS AT THE COAST TO BE CONSIDERABLY WARMER TODAY OVER YESTERDAYS CLOUD COOLED READINGS. ELSEWHERE TEMPS TO BE SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY AND THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE CASE THROUGH SATURDAY. STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP THINGS WELL ABOVE NORMAL FOR INLAND AREAS THROUGH SATURDAY WITH UPPER ELEVATIONS AND RIDGE TOPS REMAINING QUITE WARM AT NIGHT WITH STRONG INVERSION. SO SHORT TERM TO OFFER LITTLE CHANGE FROM UNSEASONABLY WARM PATTERN...HOWEVER FOR THE COAST ANOTHER SOUTHERLY SURGE IN THE WORKS FOR FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY WITH TEMPS BEING HELD DOWN AGAIN AT THE COAST ON SATURDAY WITH STRATUS HOLDING IN FOR MUCH OF THE DAY. EXTENDED...UPPER RIDGE TO WEAKEN AND SHIFT TO THE EAST SIDE SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY AS UPPER LOW/TROUGH NEAR 40N130W ON SUNDAY GETS EJECTED NORTH BY A DEEPENING TROUGH SOUTH OF ALEUTIANS. THE TROUGH WILL SWEEP ACROSS SOUTHWEST OREGON SUNDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY...BUT WILL HAVE LITTLE TIME TO BUILD MUCH MOISTURE INTO THE DRY AIRMASS OVER THE REGION AS IT MOVES QUICKLY NORTH ON MONDAY. THEREFORE HAVE NOT ADDED ANY WORDING FOR PRECIP CHANCES AT THIS TIME. AS FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY THE GFS RUN TONIGHT SHOWING A MORE PROGRESSIVE PATTERN WITH OUR RIDGE BEING FLATTENED ALLOWING SOME SHORT WAVE TROUGHS TO MOVE ACROSS REGION. THIS HAS BEEN INCONSISTENT FROM PREVIOUS RUNS SO WILL NOT BITE OFF ON THIS SOLUTION JUST YET. MAIN CHANGE WILL BE COOLING TREND AS 500MB HEIGHTS TO DROP QUITE A BIT...SO HAVE TEMPS TRENDING DOWN CLOSER TO NORMAL FOR TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES FROM MONDAY ON FOR MOST AREAS. .MFR...NONE. MW
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 25, 5:30 AM PST, 1 hour 40 minutes before
ORZ021>031-CAZ080>085-261330- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 630 AM PDT THU SEP 25 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHERN OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA .DAY ONE...TODAY RED FLAG WARNING FOR CURRY COUNTY TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. ORR
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Lightning Strikes in Florida, September 25, 2003
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Texas, September 25, 2003
- Flash Flood in Florida, September 25, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Florida, September 25, 2003
- Waterspout in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, September 25, 2003
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind in Gulf of Mexico, September 25, 2003
- High Wind in Montana, September 25, 2003
- Hail in Florida, September 25, 2003
- Flash Flood in Texas, September 25, 2003
More
Every storm in Oregon in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5375292.