Embers from a burn pile blew into tall weeds and grass which spread and burned about 240 acres on the southeast side of Pendleton.
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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 PDT wrote it up.
Embers from a burn pile blew into tall weeds and grass which spread and burned about 240 acres on the southeast side of Pendleton.
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 Mar 6, 9:19 AM PST, 5 hours 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 919 AM PST TUE MAR 6 2012 .SHORT TERM...UPDATE...THE AXIS OF THE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE REGION CURRENTLY EXTENDS FROM EXTREME NORTHEAST WASHINGTON TO SOUTHWEST OREGON. THIS TROUGH AXIS WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT EAST-SOUTHEAST TODAY, EXITING INTO IDAHO BY LATE DAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS, DUE TO WEAK INSTABILITY AND UPSLOPE AFFECTS, WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TODAY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. THESE SHOWERS WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE IN COVERAGE THIS AFTERNOON DUE TO INCREASING STABILIZATION BEHIND THE TROUGH AXIS. LOCALLY BREEZY WINDS WILL SHIFT TO MORE NORTH OR NORTHWESTERLY DIRECTIONS WITH THE TROUGH AXIS PASSAGE. HIGH TEMPS WILL BE AROUND 10 DEGREES BELOW SEASONAL DUE TO COLD AIR ADVECTION. CURRENT FORECAST PACKAGE IN FAIRLY GOOD SHAPE AND MADE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO SKY COVER AND HIGH TEMPS. ALSO ADDED ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS FOR THIS MORNING OVER THE WASHINGTON BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS AND NUDGED SHOWER COVERAGE UP NEAR THE OREGON CASCADE CREST. 90 .LONG TERM...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE REGION THURSDAY NIGHT FOR DRY CONDITIONS. THE RIDGE MOVES EAST A TAD ON FRIDAY WHILE AN UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE BRINGS A COLD FRONT TOWARD THE COAST DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY...BUT DRY SOUTHWEST WINDS ALOFT WILL KEEP THE FORECAST AREA DRY THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THE SHORT WAVE THEN PUSHES THE COLD FRONT AND ATTENDANT MOISTURE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA ON FRIDAY NIGHT FOR A CHANCE OF RAIN...MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS. A SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL OCCUR EAST OF THE CASCADES ON SATURDAY FOR DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE FORECAST AREA WHILE A LARGE UPPER LEVEL LONG WAVE TROUGH IN THE GULF OF ALASKA DIGS SOUTHEAST THUS PUSHING A COLD FRONT TO AROUND 130W. THE LONG WAVE TROUGH PUSHES THE COLD FRONT TO THE COAST IN THE PREDAWN HOURS OF SUNDAY...WITH INCREASING CLOUDS AND MOISTURE SPREADING EAST OF THE CASCADES AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WHICH SHOULD BRING A LOW CHANCE OF RAIN TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS BEFORE DAYBREAK ON SUNDAY MORNING. && .AVIATION...18Z TAFS...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. AXIS OF LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL BE MOVING EAST OF THE AREA WITH THE CUMULUS CLOUDS AND ISOLATED SHOWERS FROM AROUND KBDN AND KRDM NORTHEAST ALONG THE BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS THROUGH 02Z. ELSEWHERE...THERE WILL BE SOME HIGH CIRRUS CLOUDS MOVE INTO THE WEST AS THE RIDGE BUILDS OVERNIGHT. GUSTY NW WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 04Z THEN BECOME LIGHT AND DRAINAGE OVERNIGHT. ML && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 42 23 45 27 / 10 0 0 0 ALW 42 27 47 31 / 20 0 0 0 PSC 49 21 49 23 / 0 0 0 0 YKM 46 16 47 23 / 0 0 0 0 HRI 47 20 49 22 / 10 0 0 0 ELN 44 18 46 25 / 10 0 0 0 RDM 36 11 43 16 / 20 0 0 0 LGD 35 19 43 24 / 40 0 0 0 GCD 36 19 44 22 / 40 10 0 0 DLS 46 26 49 29 / 20 10 0 0 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...NONE. WA...NONE. && THREAT INDEX TODAY : GREEN WEDNESDAY : GREEN THURSDAY : 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 90/99/93
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 510 AM PST TUE MAR 6 2012 ORZ041-042-044-049-050-502-503-505>509-WAZ024-026>030-520-521- 071315- EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON-NORTH CENTRAL OREGON- LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON-GRANDE RONDE VALLEY-WALLOWA COUNTY- NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON- SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-JOHN DAY BASIN-OCHOCO- JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS- FOOTHILLS OF THE NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON- FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON- EAST SLOPES OF THE OREGON CASCADES- 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 WASHINGTON CASCADES-SIMCOE HIGHLANDS- 510 AM PST TUE MAR 6 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. THERE WILL BE A FEW LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS THIS MORNING...MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AS AN UPPER TROUGH CONTINUES TO CROSS THE REGION. THEN HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL REBUILD OFF THE COAST KEEPING A COLD NORTHERLY FLOW OVER THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT...BUT WITH DRIER CONDITIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BRING A DRYING AND WARMING TREND THAT WILL PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST FRIDAY. THEN ANOTHER PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO MOVE BACK INTO THE REGION AGAIN WITH A CHANCE OF MORE VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW...AND POSSIBLY MORE WIND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. 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.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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: 361759.