1 dust storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Mar 5, 2:30 PM PST, 3 hours earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 230 PM PST WED MAR 5 2003 CONCERN THIS PACKAGE IS WITH SNOW AMOUNTS AND WINDS FOR THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS. LATEST SFC OBS FROM AROUND THE AREA HAS SFC WINDS CLIMBING ACROSS SOME LOCATIONS TO NEAR 40MPH WITH PEAK GUSTS NEAR 60 MPH. AS THE SUN SETS WINDS SHUD TRY AND DECOUPLE BUT SHUD STILL BE WINDY TO BREEZY ACROSS THE AREA. WITH THE STRONG WINDS THE BASIN WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT DOWNSLOPE THIS EARLY EVENING. BUT AS THE WINDS SLACK TONIGHT A FEW SHRA MAY DEVELOP. OVER THE BLUE MOUNTAINS IMPRESSIVE WESTERLY UPSLOPE WILL INCREASE -SN THAT MAY BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH THE PCPN MAY SLACKEN SOME THURSDAY...THE QPF AMOUNTS OVER THE BLUES WERE FORECAST AROUND 6/10 OF AN INCH THROUGH TOMORROW NOT FACTORING IN UPSLOPE AND WITH THIS IN MIND I WILL KEEP THE WSWARNING. ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES QPF AMOUNTS WERE NEAR 1.5 INCHES AND WILL KEEP THE WSWARNING FOR HERE AS WELL BUT CONTINUE THROUGH ALL OF THURSDAY. THURSDAY NIGHT QPF VALUES INCREASE AND WILL EXTEND THE WSW INTO THE NIGHT. PRESSURE GRADIENTS FOR TOMORROW ARE JUST AS STRONG AS THEY ARE TODAY. IN FACT GUIDENCE HAS SFC WINDS HIER IN ELN AND WILL KEEP THE HIGH WIND WATCH ACROSS THE AREAS ALREADY MENTIONED. SINCE AWIPS IS DOWN THE MM5 SHOWS ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT SYSTEM...ALTHOUGH SHIFTING SLIGHTLY SOUTH...MOVING INTO THE WESTERN FA WITH THE BULK OF IT OVER OREGON. AS A SERIES OF STORMS POUNDS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST EXPECT LITTLE CHANGE IN THE UNSETTLED VALLEY SHOWERS AND WIND WITH MOUNTAINS SNOWS FRIDAY. BY SATURDAY A DRY SURGE ALONG WITH A WARM FRONT INVADES THE CWA. THE CHANCE FOR PCPN ACROSS THE AREA WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH AS THE WINDS CEASE FROM A WESTERLY UPSLOPE DIRECTION. VP IN THE EXTENDED...MID-RANGE MODELS STILL VARY...THOUGH THERE IS MORE CONCENSUS ON CONTINUING THE CURRENT ZONAL FLOW PATTERN. THERE ARE SOME INDICATIONS THAT THE PATTERN COULD AMPLIFY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WHICH WOULD RESULT IN DRIER CONDTIONS. FOR NOW WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE IDEA OF THE ZONAL FLOW PERSISTING WITH CHANCE POPS AT LOW ELEVATIONS AND LIKELY POPS OVER MOUNTAIN RIDGES. WILL TWEAK POPS A CATEGORY LOWER OVER OUR SOUTHEAST CORNER TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY TO GET A BETTER FIT WITH SURROUNDING OFFICES THOUGH. GKH PDT 434 ALW 434 PSC 222 YKM 3233 .KPDT...A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT... ...A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE...THE YAKIMA AND KITTITAS VALLEYS...THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON...AND THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON THIS EVENING... ...A SNOW ADVISORY FOR WALLOWA COUNTY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT... ...A HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THURSDAY FOR THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE...THE YAKIMA AND KITTITAS VALLEYS...THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON...AND THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON...
ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-061300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 500 AM PST WED MAR 5 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON .DAY ONE...TODAY A STRONG WINTER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TODAY BRINGING MOUNTAIN SNOW AND HIGH WINDS. SEVERAL HIGH WIND WARNINGS AND WINTER STORM WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED. A SNOW ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR WALLOWA COUNTY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY ANOTHER STRONG WAVE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION ON THURSDAY BRINGING MORE HIGH WINDS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW. A HIGH WIND WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds in the Horse Heaven Hills created areas of blowing dust. The Washington Department of Transportation closed a 10 mile stretch of Highway 221 between Prosser and Patterson from around 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM due to dust blowing over the roadway.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, March 2003
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: 5347895.