A fast moving cold front and strong winds aloft produced severe thunderstorms with damaging outflow winds into College Place.
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 PDT wrote it up.
A fast moving cold front and strong winds aloft produced severe thunderstorms with damaging outflow winds into College Place.
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 May 19, 3:50 PM PST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 450 PM PDT WED MAY 19 2010 UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION. .SHORT TERM...THE LATEST RADAR WAS SHOWING A LARGE AREA OF PCPN OVER WESTERN OREGON THAT WAS MOVG ACROSS THE WA/OR CASCADES. THE PCPN WILL CONTINUE MOVG EAST INTO THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA AND INCREASE IN COVERAGE TONIGHT. SNOW LEVELS WILL FALL OVERNIGHT BUT SHOULD LOWER TO AROUND 4500FT BY TOMORROW MORNING. THE BULK OF THE MOISTURE AND COLD FRONT SHOULD MOVE EAST OF THE REGION BY THURSDAY. HOWEVER SHOWERS SHOULD PERSIST ESPECIALLY IN AN UPSLOPE WESTERLY FLOW IN THE AREA MOUNTAINS. AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPS WILL BE COOLER BY AS MUCH AS 15 DEGREES. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM TAKES AIM ON THE PACNW FRIDAY. MID LEVEL LOW PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO WA/OR WITH SHOWERS DEVELOPING ONCE AGAIN ACROSS THE AREA THAT SHOULD CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. SNOW LEVELS LOWER EVEN MORE AND SOME FROZEN PCPN IS POSSIBLE ACROSS MEH AND TOLLGATE FRIDAY NIGHT. WIND ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN POSTED FOR THE YAKIMA VALLEY...EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN WA CASCADES...THE EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE...LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN AND BLUE MTN FOOTHILLS IN EFFECT FOR 5 PM THROUGH 10 PM THIS EVENING. WINDS ALOFT ARE INCREASING AHEAD OF THE FRONT...AS EVIDENT BY SOME OF THE RIDGETOP WINDS IN CENTRAL OREGON. THE FAST MOVING COLD FRONT WILL HAVE THE COMBINATION OF A TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT AND STRONG WINDS ALOFT TO BRING A 3-5 HOUR PERIOD OF VERY WINDY CONDITIONS AND GUSTS TO 50-55 MPH. SURFACE WINDS WILL DECOUPLE FROM WINDS ALOFT OVERNIGHT...DIMINISHING OVER MOST OF THE AREA BY EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. 85 .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MODELS CONTINUE TO BE IN BROAD AGREEMENT AS TO THE PATTERN OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST OVER THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK BUT DIFFER AS TO THE DETAILS. INITIALLY MODELS HAVE AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG UPPER LOW OVER THE AREA WHICH WILL GIVE US A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE COLUMBIA BASIN AND A CHANCE EVERYWHERE ELSE. WHILE THE COLUMBIA BASIN SHOULD MAKE IT INTO THE LOW 60S...THE REST OF THE AREA WILL STRUGGLE TO MAKE IT INTO THE LOW 50S AND SNOW LEVELS WILL BE AT 3500 TO 4000 FEET WHICH WILL GIVE THE MOUNTAINS SOME SNOW SHOWERS BUT ALSO AREAS SOUTH OF WEST OF BEND MAY GET A RAIN/SNOW MIX. CURRENTLY PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE TOO SUBSTANTIAL SO SNOW SHOULD NOT REACH ADVISORY LEVELS...BUT THIS COULD CHANGE DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. SHOWERS SHOULD TAPER OFF SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY AS THE LOW SINKS TO THE SOUTHWEST. SNOW LEVELS WILL RISE SUNDAY TO 4500 TO 5000 FEET AS TEMPERATURES GO UP 3 TO 5 DEGREES. BY MONDAY THE GFS HAS A LOW MOVING ASHORE OVER THE AREA AND KEEPS A DEEP TROUGH THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING BEFORE REFORMING IT OFFSHORE TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE ECMWF HAS THE LOW STILL OFF OF THE CENTRAL BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST ON MONDAY WITH A SHALLOW TROUGH THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT BEFORE BUILDING A STRONGER TROUGH OFFSHORE TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. FAVOR THE ECMWF BUT GIVEN THE DISAGREEMENT....KEPT A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS WITH A CHANCE IN THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. PERRY && .AVIATION...00Z TAFS...STRONG FAST MOVING COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA THIS EVENING WITH GENERALLY SW-W-NW WINDS INCREASING TO 20 TO 30 KTS WITH GUSTS TO 40 KTS THROUGH 20/06Z THEN DECREASING TO 10 TO 20 KTS THROUGH TOMORROW MORNING. TOMORROW AFTERNOON WILL HAVE GUSTS TO 30 KTS AS WELL. LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR OF +/- 10 TO 15 KTS WILL BE POSSIBLE AT ALL TAF SITES...ESPECIALLY KRDM...THROUGH 06Z THIS EVENING BUT SHEAR DID NOT APPEAR TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO BE INCLUDED IN THE TAFS. MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES WILL BE POSSIBLE NEAR THE HEAVIEST SHOWERS THROUGH 20/06Z TONIGHT. SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE OVER MUCH OF THE AREA OVER NIGHT AND AGAIN TOMORROW AFTERNOON BUT CEILINGS SHOULD GENERALLY BE AT OR ABOVE 5000 FT AGL. PERRY && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 42 57 40 55 / 60 20 30 60 ALW 43 59 41 57 / 60 20 30 60 PSC 46 62 41 60 / 50 20 20 40 YKM 41 57 36 54 / 50 20 20 40 HRI 44 60 41 60 / 50 20 20 40 ELN 42 56 37 55 / 50 30 20 40 RDM 34 54 33 52 / 60 30 30 30 LGD 41 52 35 50 / 70 40 40 50 GCD 39 54 36 50 / 60 30 30 50 DLS 46 60 40 57 / 50 30 20 60 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...WIND ADVISORY FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 PM PDT THIS EVENING ORZ041-044-501. WA...WIND ADVISORY FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 PM PDT THIS EVENING WAZ024-027>029-502. && THREAT INDEX THURSDAY : YELLOW FRIDAY : GREEN SATURDAY : GREEN GREEN: NONE OR LIMITED NEED FOR WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES. YELLOW: A FEW WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES POSSIBLE OR IN EFFECT. RED: NUMEROUS WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES POSSIBLE OR IN EFFECT. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT... WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PENDLETON 97/83/83
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
915 AM PDT WED MAY 19 2010
UPDATED FOR WIND ADVISORY AND THUNDERSTORM INFORMATION
ORZ041>044-049-050-501>506-WAZ024-026>030-501-502-201415-
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON-NORTH CENTRAL OREGON-
CENTRAL OREGON-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON-GRANDE RONDE VALLEY-
WALLOWA COUNTY-FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
NORTHERN WHEELER AND SOUTHERN GILLIAM COUNTIES-JOHN DAY BASIN-
OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS-
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF WASHINGTON-KITTITAS VALLEY-
YAKIMA VALLEY-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF WASHINGTON-
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON-
NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON-
EAST SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL CASCADES OF WASHINGTON-
EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN CASCADES OF WASHINGTON-
915 AM PDT WED MAY 19 2010
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON
AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON.
STRONG WIND
EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN CASCADES OF WASHINGTON, EASTERN
COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF WASHINGTON, YAKIMA VALLEY, LOWER
COLUMBIA BASIN OF WASHINGTON, FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
OF WASHINGTON, EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON, LOWER
COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON, FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF
OREGON
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...ALL OF FORECAST AREA WHICH INCLUDES....
EAST SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL CASCADES OF WASHINGTON, KITTITAS
VALLEY, NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON, NORTH CENTRAL
OREGON, CENTRAL OREGON, GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, WALLOWA COUNTY,
NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF
OREGON, NORTHERN WHEELER AND SOUTHERN GILLIAM COUNTIES,
JOHN DAY BASIN, OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS, EAST SLOPES OF THE
SOUTHERN CASCADES OF WASHINGTON, EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER
GORGE OF WASHINGTON, YAKIMA VALLEY, LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN
OF WASHINGTON, FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON,
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON, LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF
OREGON, FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON
A STRONG AND FAST MOVING COLD FRONT WILL BRING INCREASING WINDS,
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TO THE FORECAST AREA.
VERY WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED BETWEEN 5 PM AND 10 PM IN THE
AREAS LISTED ABOVE...AND A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED. FOR
DETAILS...REFER TO THE NWS PRODUCT PDXNPWPDT.
ALTHOUGH ONLY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY, SOME STORMS
MAY BRING GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.
UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL CONTINUE INTO NEXT WEEK AS A SERIES OF LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEMS MOVE THROUGH THE REGION...BRINGING MORE SHOWERS AND
POSSIBLY THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS AT
TIMES. IN ADDITION...TEMPERATURES WILL COOL TO BELOW NORMAL.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY FOR STRONG WINDS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TODAY.
WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
GRAPHICAL FORECASTS OF WEATHER HAZARDS OUT TO SEVEN DAYS
ARE DISPLAYED ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT:
WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/PDT/CURRENTHAZARDS/HWO.HTML
ALL LETTERS IN THE ABOVE URL ARE LOWER CASE.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
605 PM PDT WED MAY 19 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0540 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 4 E ELLENSBURG 47.00N 120.47W
05/19/2010 KITTITAS WA TRAINED SPOTTER
TREE TOPS SNAPPED OFF
&&
TWESPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 618 PM PDT WED MAY 19 2010 ORZ044-049-050-501>503-WAZ028>030-200215- FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS WA-FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OR-GRANDE RONDE VALLEY OR-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN WA-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OR-NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON OR-NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS WA-SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON OR-WALLOWA COUNTY OR- 618 PM PDT WED MAY 19 2010 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR WALLA WALLA...SOUTHERN COLUMBIA...NORTHERN UNION...NORTHEASTERN UMATILLA...NORTHWESTERN WALLOWA...EXTREME EASTERN BENTON AND SOUTHERN FRANKLIN COUNTIES UNTIL 715 PM PDT... AT 612 PM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM WALLULA TO 6 MILES WEST OF KAMELA...AND MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS...ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN. LAT...LON 4634 11784 4543 11744 4530 11845 4631 11909 TIME...MOT...LOC 0118Z 270DEG 41KT 4606 11886 4542 11842 DW
The Pendleton radar (KPDT), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:28 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees and powers lines were knocked down on Highway 125 due to thunderstorm winds. The College Place Airport mesonet station recorded a wind gust to 50 knots.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, May 2010
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: 222222.