Hail, Cowlitz
- When
- April 13, 6:00 PM PST to 6:15 PM PST
- Where
- Cowlitz County, Kalama
- Measured
- 0.25 in hail
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 46.017, -122.850
Hail in Washington, April 13, 2003
Small hail, one quarter inch in diameter, accumulated to an inch or more in locations around Kalama. The accumulation of hail on Interstate 5 apparently contributed to traffic accidents, resulting in one injury, and prompted Washington State Police to temporarily close the interstate.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- 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.
Small hail, one quarter inch in diameter, accumulated to an inch or more in locations around Kalama. The accumulation of hail on Interstate 5 apparently contributed to traffic accidents, resulting in one injury, and prompted Washington State Police to temporarily close the interstate. The combination of heavy rain and hail accumulation resulted in minor flooding in areas of Kalama.
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 Apr 13, 2:00 PM PST, 4 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 13, 2:00 PM PST, 4 hours before
NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 300 PM PDT SUN APR 13 2003 .SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE AREA CENTERED OFF THE OREGON COAST WILL MOVE CLOSER THIS EVENING WITH A MOIST UNSTABLE AIR MASS OVER THE FORECAST AREA FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. THE UPPER LOW WILL SPLIT AND SLOWLY WEAKEN MON AND TUE FOR DECREASING SHOWERS. WEAK WEATHER SYSTEMS FROM THE GULF OF AK WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH THE WEEK. .DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM...THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OFF THE COAST WILL DRIFT CLOSER THIS EVENING AND ALTHOUGH WE WILL NOT HAVE STRONG UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE LIKE YESTERDAY THAT WILL BE COMPENSATED BY AN INCREASE IN ANOTHER PARAMETER FOR CONVECTION...BUOYANCY. FLOW ALOFT WILL BE LIGHT WHICH IS GOOD FOR DIURNAL CONVECTION AND LIFTED INDEXES IN NORTHWEST OREGON ARE LESS THAN -2 IN SOME LOCATIONS WITH INCREASING CONVECTIVE AVAILABLE POTENTIAL ENERGY THIS AFTERNOON. 500 MB TEMPS WILL DROP BELOW -28 C OVERALL WITH AFTERNOON AND EVENING LAPSE RATES STEEPENING. COULD GET SOME HEAVY SHOWERS AND SMALL HAIL ESPECIALLY NEAR THE MAXIMUM AREA OF THETA-E THAT IS SHOWN ALONG THE CASCADES AND CASCADE FOOTHILLS. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IS ALREADY SHOWING CELLS POPPING THROUGH THE CAP THIS AFTERNOON. FOR THE FIRST OF THE WEEK THE UPPER LOW SHOWS A TENDENCY TO SPLIT NORTH AND SOUTH BUT WILL EJECT WEAK VORTICITY LOBES TOWARD THE FORECAST AREA IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT TO PRODUCE SHOWERS IN A MOIST AIR MASS THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .LONG TERM...A NORTHWESTERLY JET AXIS OFFSHORE WILL DIG A MORE PROGRESSIVE UPPER TROUGH FROM THE GULF OF AK SOUTH INTO THE AREA THU...POSSIBLY FOLLOWED BY SHORT WAVE RIDGING FRI. THE NEXT PAC FRONT SHOULD AFFECT MAINLY NORTHERN ZONES SAT...THEN AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL BRING SHOWERS TO THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY. WILLSON AST 666244 PDX 953244 SLE 953244 EUG 953244 .PQR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CAPE SHOALWATER TO FLORENCE
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 13, 5:00 AM PST, 13 hours before
ORZ001>013-WAZ019>023-039-040-141300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 600 AM PDT SUN APR 13 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE... TODAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .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.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Washington in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, April 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: 5351648.