Fog combined with smoke from agricultural burning caused very restricted visibilities along highway US97 about 10 miles south of Klamath Falls. A jeep rear-ended a car in the fog/smoke at 07:20 AM, and other vehicles collided with them.
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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 MFR wrote it up.
Fog combined with smoke from agricultural burning caused very restricted visibilities along highway US97 about 10 miles south of Klamath Falls. A jeep rear-ended a car in the fog/smoke at 07:20 AM, and other vehicles collided with them. In all, 30 vehicles were involved, including three tractor-trailers, along a two mile long stretch of the road.
One person, who was driving one of the tractor trailers, was killed. 8 others were hospitalized with mostly minor injuries. A few others were injured who did not require hospitalization.
At the time, no restrictions to visibility were reported at the nearest ASOS in Klamath Falls (KLMT) or in Alturas (KAAT). The Montague ASOS (KSIY) reported thick freezing fog at the time, but that station was miles away on the other side of the Cascade range from the collision site.
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 Nov 5, 5:33 AM PST, 1 hour 27 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 533 AM PST MON NOV 5 2007 .UPDATE...CANCELLED SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR OUTER WATERS THIS MORNING. WINDS AND SEAS HAVE DECREASED AND ARE NOT EXPECTED TO CLIMB BACK TO ADVISORY CRITERIA TODAY. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 307 AM PST MON NOV 5 2007/ DISCUSSION...AGAIN...AS PER THE PAST THREE NIGHTS...OFFSHORE FLOW PREVAILS WITH THINGS WARM AND VERY DRY ON THE RIDGES AND THE VALLEYS SITTING UNDER A STRONG INVERSION WITH COLD AND FOG. AS THE RBG AREA DID NOT BREAK OUT HAVE GONE WELL UNDER GUIDANCE FOR THAT AREA TODAY. WITH H925 TEMPS A DEGREE C OR SO HIGHER THAN YESTERDAY HAVE ADJUSTED HIGHS UP A FEW OUTSIDE OF THE RBG AREA AS WELL. AM SOMEWHAT HESITANT TO BUY COMPLETELY INTO THE NAM12S EROSION OF LLVL MOISTURE TOMORROW NIGHT AND HAVE JUST CUT BACK ON FOG WORDING AND AREAS FOR TUESDAY MORNING WHILE ALSO NOT CUTTING DOWN ON GUIDANCE FOR HIGHS AS WELL ON TUESDAY. && AVIATION...EXPECT A SLIGHTLY REDUCED REPEAT OF THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS WITH WEST SIDE VALLEY FOG BURNING OFF A LITTLE SOONER IN ALL BUT THE RBG AREA...WHERE IT MAY ACTUALLY CLEAR OUT FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS IN THE AFTERNOON && .MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...NONE. CA...NONE. PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...NONE. 04/06/06
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dense smoke. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, November 2007
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: 60126.