Strong winds left 1,300 customers without power in Elgin and Imbler after the winds forced power lines to come into contact with each other, causing a breaker to open at the Janson substation. La Grande, 11 miles southwest of Imbler in the Grande Ronde Valley, recorded a wind gust of 41 MPH at 6:55 PM.
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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 episode as NWS PDT wrote it up.
Strong winds left 1,300 customers without power in Elgin and Imbler after the winds forced power lines to come into contact with each other, causing a breaker to open at the Janson substation. La Grande, 11 miles southwest of Imbler in the Grande Ronde Valley, recorded a wind gust of 41 MPH at 6:55 PM.
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, 5:55 PM PST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON 555 PM PST FRI MAR 5 2004 .DISCUSSION...COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH NORTHEAST OREGON AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON HAS BEEN SPARKING CONVECTIVE SHOWERS ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND OVER THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AS WELL. UPDATED FORECAST EARLIER TO ADD MENTION OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE FOOTHILLS AND OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING AS FRONT PUSHES THROUGH. INSTABILITY IS LACKING...BUT THUNDER HAS BEEN POPPING UP WHERE EXTRA LIFT AND STRETCH PROVIDED BY TERRAIN HAS ENHANCED THE CONVECTION ALONG THE FRONT. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD DIE OFF AS FRONT CONTINUES TO TRACK SOUTHWARD. SNOW ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN UPDATED. EXPECT MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL IN THE VICINITY OF FRONT AS IT PASSES THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS...WITH SNOW LEVELS LOWERING TO AROUND 3000 FEET. ACCUMULATION NUMBERS REMAIN ON TRACK WITH CLOSE TO 6 INCHES ABOVE 4000 FEET IN THE BLUES AND UP TO 3 INCHES IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF WALLOWA COUNTY. DECIDED TO END ADVISORY IN WALLOWA COUNTY BY 9PM AS FLOW WILL PROGRESSIVELY BECOME MORE WESTERLY AND PRECIP SHADOWING BY BLUE MOUNTAINS WILL LIMIT PRECIP FALLING IN LOWER ELEVATIONS. WILL UPDATE FORECAST TO REMOVE HEADLINE FOR WALLOWA COUNTY LATER...BUT OTHERWISE NO FURTHER UPDATES ARE PLANNED AT THIS TIME. CANTIN && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PENDLETON (AIRPORT) 34 50 38 58 / 40 10 30 10 WALLA WALLA 36 53 38 60 / 40 10 30 10 TRI-CITIES 35 54 37 61 / 10 05 20 10 YAKIMA 30 52 36 56 / 10 05 20 10 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...SNOW ADVISORY ZONE 50 THROUGH 9PM...SNOW ADVISORY THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR ZONE 46. WA...SNOW ADVISORY ZONE 30 THROUGH MIDNIGHT. && 96
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 500 AM PST FRI MAR 5 2004 ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-061300- BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON OR-CENTRAL OREGON OR- EAST COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OR-EAST COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE WA- EAST SLOPES SOUTHERN CASCADES WA-FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS WA- FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OR-GRANDE RONDE VALLEY OR- JOHN DAY VALLEY OR-KITTITAS VALLEY WA-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN WA- LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OR-NORTH CENTRAL OREGON OR- NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS WA-OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS OR- WALLOWA COUNTY OR-YAKIMA VALLEY WA- 500 AM PST FRI MAR 5 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE TWO STATE AREA TODAY. SNOW WILL FALL ACROSS AREA MOUNTAINS WITH ACCUMULATING SNOWS BETWEEN 3 TO 6 INCHES IS EXPECTED IN THE BLUE AND WALLOWA MOUNTAINS. A SNOW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.(PLEASE SEE PRODUCT PDXWSWPDT). IN ADDITION...BREEZY TO WINDY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS ARE LIKELY TODAY AND TONIGHT ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE TWO STATE AREA SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT WITH VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW AND WINDY CONDITIONS. THEN A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE TRIES TO BUILD INTO THE AREA WITH IMPROVING CONDITIONS AND WARMING TEMPERATURES SUNDAY AND INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED ACROSS THE BLUE AND WALLOWA AREAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR ACCUMULATING SNOWS. 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 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, March 2004
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: 5388552.