Clear skies and long nights allowed freezing temperature to develop in some parts of south central Oregon.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
Clear skies and long nights allowed freezing temperature to develop in some parts of south central Oregon.
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 Aug 29, 1:16 AM PST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
216 AM PDT WED AUG 29 2012
.DISCUSSION...VERY LITTLE CHANGE IN SENSIBLE WEATHER EXPECTED FOR
MOST OF US IN SW OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA OVER THE NEXT
WEEK. GENERAL UPPER LEVEL TROUGHINESS REMAINS IN PLACE OVER THE NE
PACIFIC AND PACNW THROUGH SATURDAY. WHILE THERE WILL BE
SHORTWAVES MOVING THROUGH THE FLOW FROM TIME TO TIME, NONE LOOKS
TO DO MUCH OTHER THAN TO BRIEFLY INFLUENCE THE MARINE LAYER. THE
EXCEPTION MAY BE SATURDAY WHEN THE MAIN TROUGH AXIS BEGINS TO MOVE
INLAND. THE 29/00Z ECMWF NOW SHOWS THE POTENTIAL FOR CONVECTION
ON THE EAST SIDE SATURDAY AFTERNOON. NONE OF THE OTHER MODELS SHOW
THIS, SO POPS HAVE NOT BEEN INSERTED JUST YET, BUT THIS IS ONE
THING TO KEEP ANY EYE ON.
THE CURRENT FREEZE WARNING AND FROST ADVISORIES ARE CURRENTLY WELL
ON THEIR WAY TO VERIFYING. WHILE COLD MORNINGS ARE LIKELY IN THE
OFFING SEVERAL MORE TIMES OVER THE NEXT WEEK OVER NORTHERN
KLAMATH AND NW LAKE COUNTIES, THEY HAVE REACHED FREEZING A
SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF TIMES ALREADY TO DISCONTINUE ISSUING
FROST/FREEZE PRODUCTS THERE. WILL OBVIOUSLY CONTINUE TO MONITOR
OTHER AGRICULTURAL AREAS FOR FROST AND FREEZING CONDITIONS THROUGH
THE COMING WEEKS.
AFTER SATURDAY, ZONAL FLOW INTO THE WEST COAST RESUMES AND
CONTINUES INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. FINALLY THOUGH, A RIDGE BEGINS
BUILDING OFF SHORE EARLY NEXT WEEK AS ANOTHER WEAK TROUGH SLIDES
THROUGH THE PACNW. WHILE NONE OF THIS ADDS UP TO MUCH CHANGE IN
OUR WEATHER THROUGH THE CURRENT FORECAST PERIOD, THE MODELS ARE
TRENDING TOWARD SETTING UP A REX BLOCK (HIGH OVER LOW) ALONG THE
WEST COAST OR JUST OFF SHORE LATER NEXT WEEK. SUCH A SET UP WOULD
BE A POTENTIAL CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER OFF SHORE FLOW PATTERN. WILL
HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS FOR SUBSEQUENT FORECASTS. -WRIGHT
&&
.AVIATION...AREAS OF HIGH IFR/LOW MVFR CIGS ALONG THE COAST HAVE
SPREAD INTO THE UMPQUA BASIN AND WILL GRADUALLY RETREAT BACK TO
THE COAST WEDNESDAY MORNING. HIGHER TERRAIN IN COOS AND DOUGLAS
COUNTY WILL BECOME OBSCURED WITH THE LOWER CEILINGS. THE MVFR WILL
RETURN ALONG THE COAST WEDNESDAY EVENING. ELSEWHERE...VFR
CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING EXCEPT FOR SOME
MVFR VISIBILITIES IN SMOKE...MOSTLY NEAR THE GOFF FIRE IN SISKIYOU
COUNTY.
&&
.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...FROST ADVISORY UNTIL 8 AM PDT THIS MORNING FOR ORZ029>031.
FREEZE WARNING UNTIL 8 AM PDT THIS MORNING FOR ORZ029>031.
CA...FROST ADVISORY UNTIL 8 AM PDT THIS MORNING FOR CAZ082.
FREEZE WARNING UNTIL 8 AM PDT THIS MORNING FOR CAZ082.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 AM
PDT SUNDAY FOR PZZ376.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON
TO 11 AM PDT SUNDAY FOR PZZ376.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 11 PM
PDT FRIDAY FOR PZZ356.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON
TO 11 PM PDT FRIDAY FOR PZZ356.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 frost/freeze. Local standard time, as filed.
The only reported low temperature in the zone was 26 degrees in Chemult.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, August 2012
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: 400997.