A strong cold front moved across Southeast Oregon bringing high, damaging winds to the area in the late evening on the 12th and into the early morning on the 13th.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 BOI wrote it up.
A strong cold front moved across Southeast Oregon bringing high, damaging winds to the area in the late evening on the 12th and into the early morning on the 13th.
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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 12, 7:52 PM MST, 2 hours 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID 852 PM MDT MON MAR 12 2012 .DISCUSSION...DEEP SURFACE LOW ALONG THE BC COAST WILL CONTINUE TO DRIVE A EAST-TO-SOUTH SURFACE WIND TONIGHT. THOUGH LITTLE CHANGE IN THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT...DEVELOPMENT OF NIGHTTIME SURFACE INVERSION IS CUTTING OFF CONNECTION TO THE STRONGER WINDS ALOFT. THIS IS ALREADY EVIDENT WITH WEAKER WINDS AND GUSTS ACROSS SE OREGON AND SW IDAHO. GUSTY WINDS RETURN TOMORROW /BEFORE SUNRISE ACROSS SE OREGON/ WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. SOUTHWEST FLOW STILL PRODUCING LIGHT PRECIPITATION OVER THE EAST-CENTRAL OREGON AND SW IDAHO MTNS THIS EVENING. PRECIPITATION MAY TRAIL OFF LATER TONIGHT BUT WILL PICK UP AGAIN TOWARD SUNRISE TUESDAY MORNING AS THE FRONT APPROACHES. FORECAST GRIDS FOR TONIGHT LOOK TO BE ON TRACK SO WILL LET THEM RIDE. ALSO WILL LET THE WIND ADVISORY EXPIRE AS PLANNED. && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT EXCEPT FOR SCATTERED MVFR MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS IN BAKER COUNTY OREGON AND WEST CENTRAL IDAHO. ON TUESDAY PRECIPITATION WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AS AREAS OF MVFR/LOCAL IFR RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS SPREAD ACROSS SOUTHEAST OREGON AND WEST CENTRAL IDAHO BY 18Z...WITH SNOW LEVELS FROM 4K FEET MSL AT KBNO AND KBKE TO 6K FEET MSL AT KTWF. SURFACE WINDS... SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH 10-20 KTS TONIGHT THEN SOUTH TO WEST 15-30 KTS TUESDAY. WINDS ALOFT...SOUTHWEST UP TO 45 KTS AT 10K FEET MSL. && .PREV DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...TONIGHT AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL PRODUCE STRONG WINDS OVER SE OREGON AND MODERATE WINDS OVER SOUTHWEST IDAHO. PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN MAINLY OROGRAPHICALLY FORCED IN THE WEST CENTRAL/BOISE/BAKER COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND THIS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE FRONTAL LIFT SHIFTS INTO WESTERN HARNEY COUNTY AFTER MIDNIGHT OR EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. THE FRONT ITSELF WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG WINDS AS WELL...CONTINUED OROGRAPHICALLY ENHANCED SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF VALLEY RAIN SHOWERS OVER SW IDAHO TUESDAY. GREATEST POPS ARE WITH THE FRONT/TERRAIN OVER THE BOISE MOUNTAINS TO JORDAN VALLEY SOUTHWARD TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. LESS WIND BY LATE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...CONTINUED SW FLOW AND UNSETTLED WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...MOIST ACTIVE PATTERN WILL BRING WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES INTO THE WEEKEND. THE BEST PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL BE TUESDAY NIGHT AND AGAIN THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE MAINLY ABOVE 5000 FEET TUESDAY NIGHT RISING TO OVER 7000 FEET THURSDAY NIGHT. MOUNTAIN PEAKS SHOULD SEE SIGNIFICANT SNOW THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY HOWEVER...ELEVATIONS BELOW 7000 FEET WILL SEE ALL RAIN. ON FRIDAY A COLD FRONT WILL CROSS OUR AREA FOLLOWED BY MUCH COOLER WEATHER FOR THE WEEKEND AS A MAJOR UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DEEPENS OVER THE WESTERN U.S. MAX TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WILL BE 5 TO 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL...WITH MINS RETURNING TO NEAR NORMAL FOR FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY NIGHT. SHOWERS WILL BE SCATTERED...IN THE FORM OF SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND A MIX OF SNOW AND RAIN IN THE VALLEYS. && .BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...NONE. OR...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM MDT /9 PM PDT/ THIS EVENING ORZ061>063. && WEATHER.GOV/BOISE DISCUSSION...DG AVIATION.....JT PREV SHORT TERM...VM PREV LONG TERM....BB/DD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID 240 PM MDT MON MAR 12 2012 ORZ061-062-132045- HARNEY COUNTY-BAKER COUNTY- 140 PM PDT MON MAR 12 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST OREGON AND SOUTHEAST OREGON. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT VERY WINDY CONDITIONS WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH AT TIMES ARE EXPECTED THROUGH EARLY EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT HAZARDOUS WEATHER THROUGH ESTABLISHED COMMUNICATION CHANNELS. IDZ015-029-ORZ063-132045- SOUTHWEST HIGHLANDS-OWYHEE MOUNTAINS-MALHEUR COUNTY- 240 PM MDT MON MAR 12 2012 /140 PM PDT MON MAR 12 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST IDAHO AND SOUTHEAST OREGON. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY LOCALLY VERY WINDY CONDITIONS OVER MALHEUR COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON WILL REDEVELOP TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THE EVENING AND EXPAND TO OVER THE SOUTHWEST HIGHLANDS AND OWYHEE MOUNTAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT HAZARDOUS WEATHER THROUGH ESTABLISHED COMMUNICATION CHANNELS. IDZ011>014-016-028-030-033-ORZ064-132045- WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-LOWER TREASURE VALLEY ID-BOISE MOUNTAINS- UPPER TREASURE VALLEY-WESTERN MAGIC VALLEY-CAMAS PRAIRIE- SOUTHERN TWIN FALLS COUNTY-UPPER WEISER RIVER- LOWER TREASURE VALLEY OR- 240 PM MDT MON MAR 12 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL IDAHO...SOUTHWEST IDAHO...WEST CENTRAL IDAHO AND SOUTHEAST OREGON. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MODERATE SNOW IS EXPECTED ABOVE 5000 FEET IN THE WEST CENTRAL AND BOISE MOUNTAINS THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT HAZARDOUS WEATHER THROUGH ESTABLISHED COMMUNICATION CHANNELS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter 10 miles northwest of Baker City reported wind damage and power outages around Haines, Oregon.
Little McCoy and P Hill RAWS reported 71 and 62 MPH winds gusts, respectively.
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, March 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: 374121, 374122.