Locally strong winds developed ahead of a front which moved onshore this date.
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 MFR wrote it up.
Locally strong winds developed ahead of a front which moved onshore this date.
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 Oct 31, 12:56 PM PST, 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
156 PM PDT WED OCT 31 2012
.SHORT TERM...A COLD FRONT IS MOVING INLAND BRINGING RAIN INTO
AREAS FROM THE CASCADES WEST. RAIN IS EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST LATE
THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING WHILE TRANSITIONING TO SHOWERS
WEST OF THE CASCADES. BEHIND THE FRONT...THE UPPER LOW WILL MOVE
INTO THE COAST THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. THIS WILL BRING
WIDESPREAD SHOWERS TO COASTAL AREAS. INLAND LOCATIONS WEST OF THE
CASCADES MAY SEE SOME BREAKS IN SHOWERS DURING THE EVENING WITH
SHOWERS EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE OVERNIGHT AS THE LOW
TRACKS INLAND. GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE AREA
INTO THIS EVENING THEN DECREASE. HOWEVER SOME BREEZY AND GUSTY
CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE COAST AND OVER THE MOUNTAINS
INTO TONIGHT BEFORE WINDS LOWER. STRONGEST WINDS HAVE BEEN
OBSERVED OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND INTO THE SHASTA VALLEY. WINDS
HAVE BEEN SLOW TO INCREASE IN THE SUMMER LAKE AREA. HOWEVER EXPECT
INCREASING GUSTS THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY THIS EVENING NEAR
SUMMER LAKE AS THE FRONT PUSHES EAST.
ON THURSDAY...SHOWERS CONTINUE ESPECIALLY ALONG THE COAST AND INTO
THE OREGON CASCADES. THEN MODELS SHOW GOOD AGREEMENT WITH SHOWERS
TAPERING OFF IN THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING AS A SHORTWAVE
RIDGE BUILDS INTO THE AREA.
THE RIDGE REMAINS IN PLACE THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. STABLE
CONDITIONS COMBINED WITH LINGERING MOISTURE ARE EXPECTED TO BRING
AREAS OF FOG...ESPECIALLY TO THE WESTERN VALLEYS LATE THURSDAY
NIGHT AND FRIDAY. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW THE INVERSION BREAKING IN
THE EARLY AFTERNOON WITH FOG EXPECTED TO CLEAR.
THEN A WEAK FRONT MOVES TOWARDS THE COAST LATE FRIDAY
INTO EARLY SATURDAY. THIS FRONT IS EXPECTED TO BRING AREAS OF
LIGHT RAIN TO COASTAL AREAS WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN EXTENDING
INLAND TO THE CASCADES. THE ECMWF HAS BEEN WETTER WITH THIS FRONT
SHOWING LIGHT RAIN EXTENDING OVER MUCH OF THE WEST SIDE BY LATE
FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND FRIDAY EVENING WHILE THE GFS AND NAM KEEPS
CONDITIONS DRY INLAND. HAVE GONE WITH A BLEND OF THE MODELS WITH A
CHANCE FOR RAIN ALONG THE COAST AND A SLIGHT CHANCE INLAND LATE
FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.
THEN A STRONG RIDGE BUILDS INTO PLACE LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY
WITH A HIGH CENTERED OFFSHORE TO SOUTHWEST. THIS WILL BRING DRY
AND STABLE CONDITIONS.
.LONG TERM...
MODEL SOLUTIONS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN BUILDING A LARGE RIDGE
ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST. ALTHOUGH A FEW FRONTAL SYSTEMS WILL APPROACH
THE REGION FROM THE PACIFIC...THE PREFERRED STORM TRACK WILL TAKE
THEM WELL NORTH OF THE AREA. THE RESULT WILL BE DRY CONDITIONS
ACROSS THE CWA UNTIL WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR THURSDAY MORNING. AT THAT
TIME...LOW PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO DROP FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA
TOWARDS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...AND SHOULD ERODE THE RIDGE ENOUGH TO
ALLOW MOISTURE TO ONCE AGAIN ENTER THE AREA. HAVE REDUCED POPS FROM
SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WITH SLIGHT CHANCE RETURNING LATE
WEDNESDAY/EARLY THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES SHOULD SEE A GRADUAL WARMING
TREND THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK...BEFORE COOLING SLIGHTLY AS
THE TROUGH BEGINS TO IMPACT THE REGION.
DUE TO THE RIDGE IN PLACE OVER THE AREA BEGINNING SATURDAY
NIGHT...LIGHT TO CALM WINDS WILL LIKELY PREVAIL IN THE VALLEYS FOR
SEVERAL DAYS. HAVE ISSUED A AIR STAGNATION OUTLOOK FOR THE FIRST
PART OF THE WEEK AS CHANCES SEEM GOOD FOR MEETING CRITERIA.
&&
.AVIATION...A WINDY AND WET DAY CONTINUES FOR THE FORECAST AREA.
MVFR CONDITIONS WITH MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS ARE IMPACTING THE
AREA...WITH LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR POSSIBLE ALONG THE COAST THROUGH
THE EVENING. RAIN AND PATCHY MVFR CONDITIONS SHOULD CONTINUE
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. EAST SIDE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN
VFR THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING... BUT GUSTY SOUTH WINDS
WILL GENERATE TURBULENCE THERE...ALONG WITH THE COAST...SHASTA
VALLEY...AND HIGHER TERRAIN AREAS. RAIN CHANGES OVER TO SHOWERS THIS
EVENING...AND MVFR AND AREAS OF IFR SHOULD RETURN OVERNIGHT TO THE
COAST AND WEST SIDE VALLEYS WITH VFR AND ISOLATED MVFR CIGS EAST
OF THE CASCADES. -BPN
&&
.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR ORZ030-031.
CA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR CAZ081.
PZ...GALE WARNING UNTIL 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR
PZZ350-356-370-376.
HAZARDOUS SEAS WARNING UNTIL 11 AM PDT THURSDAY FOR
PZZ350-356-370-376.
CCPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
839 AM PDT WED OCT 31 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0837 AM HEAVY RAIN 8 NNE COOS BAY 43.49N 124.19W
10/31/2012 M0.82 INCH COOS OR TRAINED SPOTTER
24 HOUR TOTAL. CURRENTLY HEAVY RAIN WITH WIND GUSTING TO
AROUND 30 MPH.
&&
BPNPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
1213 PM PDT WED OCT 31 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1213 PM HEAVY RAIN 6 SW MERLIN 42.46N 123.49W
10/31/2012 M1.10 INCH JOSEPHINE OR TRAINED SPOTTER
TOTAL FROM 7AM TO NOON.
&&
BPNPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
125 PM PDT WED OCT 31 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0120 PM HEAVY RAIN 1 SSW OBRIEN 42.05N 123.71W
10/31/2012 M1.00 INCH JOSEPHINE OR TRAINED SPOTTER
7 AM TO 120 PM. STILL RAINING.
&&
GLASERThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A member of the public reported south winds 45-50 mph gusting to 70-73 mph.
The Flynn Prairie RAWS recorded a gust to 60 mph at 31/1913 PST.
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, October 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: 412517, 412511.