A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for West Central Klamath county at 1721 PDT, effective until 17/1745 PDT. It expired at 17 /1745 PDT.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for West Central Klamath county at 1721 PDT, effective until 17/1745 PDT. It expired at 17 /1745 PDT. A second Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued very near the first at 17/1750 PDT, effective until 17/1815 PDT. It expired at 17/1815 PDT.
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 May 17, 1:50 PM PST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 250 PM PDT WED MAY 17 2006 .DISCUSSION...INCREASED INSTABILITY COMPARED WITH YESTERDAY IS INDICATED BY EARLIER CUMULUS DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON...INCLUDING A WEAK THUNDERSTORM NEAR CHEMULT. EXPECT KLAMATH AND LAKE COUNTIES TO BE THE FOCUS FOR ISOLATED LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WITH DEVELOPMENT ALSO OVER THE CASCADES AND SISKIYOUS AND INTO SISKIYOU AND MODOC COUNTIES. AFTER RECORD OR NEAR RECORD WARMTH THIS AFTERNOON...A LITTLE COOLER THURSDAY BUT CONTINUED UNSTABLE WITH SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE CASCADES EASTWARD. THE SIMPLE SUMMER-LIKE WEATHER PATTERN OF THE PAST WEEK IS BEGINNING TO TRANSITION TO A MORE COMPLEX SPRING-LIKE PATTERN. THIS COMPLEXITY IS ILLUSTRATED BY THE RATHER DRASTIC RUN-TO-RUN CHANGES FOR FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND INDICATED BY THE 12Z GFS. CONFIDENCE IS NOT HIGH IN THE DETAILS AS OTHER MODELS DO NOT SUPPORT THE EXTENT OF CHANGE FOR FRIDAY OF A MUCH COOLER...STRONGER/MORE MOIST RESULT WITH FASTER MOVEMENT OF THE OFFSHORE UPPER LOW. I HAVE LEANED TOWARD THE ECMWF WHICH MAINTAINS A WEAKER/SLOWER SPLIT FLOW. BROAD BRUSH HAS BEEN UTILIZED WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE TO CHANCE OF SHOWERS FROM FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AND TEMPERATURES NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL. && .AVIATION...GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS TONIGHT EXCEPT ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE CASCADES EASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND IFR/MVFR CEILINGS IN STRATUS AND PATCHY FOG ALONG THE COAST INTO THE COQUILLE BASIN AND WESTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY. .MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CAPE BLANCO-CA BORDER 20-60 NM. CA...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY OR BORDER-PT ST GEORGE 20-60 NM. && DW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 531 PM PDT WED MAY 17 2006 ORZ029-180045- KLAMATH BASIN- 531 PM PDT WED MAY 17 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHERN OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA .DAY ONE...TODAY INCREASED INSTABILITY THIS AFTERNOON HAS TRIGGERED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WHICH HAVE REACHED WARNING LEVELS IN THE KLAMATH BASIN... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED...SEE WWUS56 MESSAGE FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. BUNKER
The Medford radar (KMAX), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:43 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
An NWS employee driving through the area reported .5 to .75 inch hail covering the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, May 2006
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: 5506319.