Oregon, 2013

Tornado in Oregon, June 18, 2013

June 18, 2013 · NWS MFR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

On Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 at 330 pm PDT an EF0 tornado with winds between 65 and 85 mph occurred 4 miles northwest of Roseburg in Douglas County, Oregon. This is the first documented tornado to occur in Douglas County based on the Storm Prediction Center’s (SPC) database going back to 1950.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.

On Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 at 330 pm PDT an EF0 tornado with winds between 65 and 85 mph occurred 4 miles northwest of Roseburg in Douglas County, Oregon. This is the first documented tornado to occur in Douglas County based on the Storm Prediction Center’s (SPC) database going back to 1950.

What forecasters said that day

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 Jun 18, 1:50 PM PST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 18, 1:50 PM PST, 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
250 PM PDT TUE JUN 18 2013

.SHORT TERM...THE UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE OFF NW OREGON COAST
WILL CONTINUE TO SPEND A SERIES OF WEAK DISTURBANCE INLAND TONIGHT
AND WEDNESDAY. COOL AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS WILL HELP TO
DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE WITH INTERMITTENT LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS.
THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING..MAINLY FROM THE CASCADES
EAST AND SOUTH INTO SISKIYOU AND MODOC COUNTIES. INSTABILITY
INDICES ARE NOT VERY HIGH AND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE EXPECTED TO BE
ISOLATED IN COVERAGE. EXPECT COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES ON
WEDNESDAY AS MORE COOLER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA ALONG WITH
POTENTIAL FOR SHOWERS. ONLY NORTHERN KLAMATH AND LAKE COUNTIES
WILL HAVE ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR LIGHTNING STRIKES. SOME CLEARING
ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT COULD BRING TEMPERATURES IN THE KLAMATH AND
TULELAKE BASINS DOWN CLOSE TO FROST POINTS.

THE LOW PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO NE OREGON AND EASTERN
WASHINGTON ON THURSDAY BUT LINGERS IN THAT GENERAL AREA THROUGH
FRIDAY. WE WILL SEE SOME WARMING AND DRYING THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
THE COLD AIR MOVES EAST. HOWEVER THERE IS A CONCERN THAT MOISTURE
ROTATING AROUND THE LOW PRESSURE COULD LEAD TO UPSLOPE SHOWERS IN
THE FAR EASTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY AND NORTHERN KLAMATH AND LAKE
COUNTIES THROUGH FRIDAY WHEREAS THE CHANCE FOR THE REST OF OUR
FORECAST AREA SHOULD BE OVER.

.LONG TERM...EXPECT BRIEF RIDGING ON SATURDAY WITH HIGHS WARMING
TO NORMAL...POSSIBLY INTO SUNDAY. WHILE BOTH LONG RANGE MODELS
HINT THAT ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE MOVE INLAND...THEY ARE BEGINNING TO
DIVERGE A BIT FROM SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE ECMWF IS MORE
AGGRESSIVE WITH A FULL FLEDGED COLD FRONT INLAND WHEREAS THE GFS
HAS A WEAKER TROUGH MOVING THROUGH. THIS WILL AFFECT FORECAST
HIGHS NEXT WEEK. DECIDED TO STAY CLOSER TO THE GFS ON TEMPERATURES
KEEPING HIGHS CLOSE TO BUT JUST BELOW SEASONAL NORMS FROM SUNDAY
INTO NEXT WEEK. ALSO INTRODUCED PRECIPITATION TO THE EXTENDED
FORECAST. /FB

&&

.AVIATION...AN UPPER LOW WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA TONIGHT INTO
WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN SHOWERS, MOST NUMEROUS IN OREGON.
THERE CAN BE ISOLATED LIGHTNING TOO, ESPECIALLY OVER INTERIOR
OREGON THIS EVENING, THEN AGAIN OVER THE EAST SIDE WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON. GUSTY WINDS IN THE ROGUE VALLEY AND OVER THE EAST SIDE
THIS EVENING WILL DIMINISH OVERNIGHT. CIGS WILL REMAIN MOSTLY A
MIX OF VFR AND MVFR, WITH THE LOWEST CIGS IN THE VICINITY OF
SHOWERS. AREAS OF IFR WILL PERSIST AT THE CURRY COAST. SPILDE

&&

.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...NONE.

CA...NONE.

PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...NONE.

FJB/FJB/MAS

The radar

The Medford radar (KMAX), 145 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Douglas

When
June 18, 2:30 PM PST to 2:31 PM PST
Where
Douglas County, 3.33 mi W of Winchester
Rating
EF0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
10 yd
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
43.280, -123.416

A neighbor witnessed the tornado for about 1 minute. She heard a very loud noise and looked out the window where she saw a funnel cloud on the ground whipping around very fast and blowing apart a carport canopy sheltering a boat. The carport canopy was held down by four-gallon sized buckets filled with water. These buckets went flying into the boat and fence. The boat received a gash, and the metal pipe fence rail was broken. A satellite dish on the roof was also turned 90 degrees. The tornado then moved into an empty field and dissipated. There was no damage to the house, but the Christmas lights were pulled down.

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Oregon, 2013Warnings in Oregon, June 2013

Sources

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: 449258.