Oregon, 2004

Tornado in Oregon, April 17, 2004

April 17, 2004 · NWS MFR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A member of the general public photographed and reported several very weak landspouts that occurred just south of the Klamath Falls airport at the above time and date. Three of them contacted the ground.

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

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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 member of the general public photographed and reported several very weak landspouts that occurred just south of the Klamath Falls airport at the above time and date. Three of them contacted the ground. This person reported the incident to the weathercaster at a local TV station and he relayed the information to us. These appear to be little more than glorified dust devils in the photographs, but it was a cool and mostly cloudy day and the person said they were connected to the clouds.No warnings were issued for these landspouts.

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 Apr 17, 1:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 1:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD, OR
230 PM PDT SAT APR 17 2004

.DISCUSSION...12Z NGM/ETA/GFS IN.

A LOW AMPLITUDE PROGRESSIVE PATTERN WILL PREVAIL OVER THE MEDFORD
CWA FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.  A LONG WAVE TROUGH NOW ALONG THE PACIFIC
COAST AS FAR SOUTH AS THE BAY AREA WILL MOVE INLAND THIS EVENING.
A SHORT WAVE RIDGE WILL MOVE THROUGH TONIGHT...FOLLOWED BY A SHORT
WAVE TROUGH SUNDAY AND YET ANOTHER SHORT WAVE RIDGE SUNDAY NIGHT.
YOU GET THE IDEA...

LIGHT SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL PREVAIL THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...ENHANCED
WITH THE PVA ASSOCIATED WITH INCOMING UPPER TROUGHS.  THE RIDGES
WONT HAVE THE STRENGTH TO SHUT DOWN THE SHOWER ACTIVITY BETWEEN
THE TROUGHS.  THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO BE A POSSIBILITY THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT CAPES...INSTABILITY...AND MODIFIED 12Z
SOUNDING INDICATES THAT THEY WILL BE NON-SEVERE AND COVERAGE WILL BE
MINIMAL.  CONDITIONS STABILIZE SUNDAY SO DONT EXPECT ANY
THUNDERSTORMS THEN.

A STRONGER NEGATIVELY TILTED UPPER TROUGH WILL APPROACH THE COAST
MONDAY...AND THIS WILL PUSH A STRONG COLD FRONT ONSHORE THEN.  WINDS
MEETING HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA LOOK LIKE A GOOD BET ALONG THE
HEADLANDS MONDAY.  WILL ISSUE A HIGH WIND WATCH THIS AFTERNOON.
ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION WILL BE SIGNIFICANT BUT NOT PARTICULARLY
HEAVY.

POST-FRONTAL SHOWERS WILL PERSIST THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...BUT THE AIR
MASS WILL GRADUALLY BECOME MORE STABLE WITH TIME AS THE UPPER LOW
LIFTS NORTH INTO VANCOUVER ISLAND BY TUESDAY EVENING AND THE UPPER
TROUGH AXIS FINALLY MOVES INLAND ABOUT THAT TIME.

STOCKTON

EXTENDED...A MIGRATING RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE WEST COAST WEDNESDAY
THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT...PUSHING TEMPERATURES BACK TO NEAR NORMAL. A
WEAKENING TROUGH PASSING TO THE NORTH OF THE CWA WILL INCREASE
CLOUDS AND BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION NORTH OF THE
UMPQUA DIVIDE ON THE WEST SIDE FRIDAY...BUT LITTLE SHOWER ACTIVITY
IS EXPECTED WITH THE LACK OF ASSOCIATED COLD AIR. NEAR NORMAL
CONDITIONS RETURN NEXT WEEKEND.

.MFR...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
       OR...HIGH WIND WATCH...ORZ021/022 HEADLANDS AND EXPOSED
                              BEACHES MON.
       CA...NONE.

&&

The radar

The Medford radar (KMAX), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Klamath

When
April 17, 4:00 PM PST to 4:30 PM PST
Where
Klamath County, Klamath Falls Arpt
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
0.1 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
42.150, -121.733

See below.

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Oregon, 2004Warnings in Oregon, April 2004

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: 5389523.