Thunderstorms that developed just west of the Oregon Cascades produced an outflow boundary with moderate wind speeds. Winds were strong enough to produce blowing dust across the I-82 corridor, reducing visibility to less than 100 ft.
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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.
Thunderstorms that developed just west of the Oregon Cascades produced an outflow boundary with moderate wind speeds. Winds were strong enough to produce blowing dust across the I-82 corridor, reducing visibility to less than 100 ft. This caused multiple collisions involving roughly 50 vehicles. No Fatalities but 9 people were hospitalized with minor injuries.
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 Aug 30, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 230 PM PDT SAT AUG 30 2014 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. WATER VAPOR SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWING UPPER LEVEL JET AND SHORT WAVE MOVING INTO THE REGION TODAY. FAIR AMOUNT OF CLOUD COVER AND SCATTERED SHOWERS THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT THIS TO CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING THEN DIMINISH OVERNIGHT. HIGHEST AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION FORECAST BY MODELS IS OVER THE NORTHEAST OREGON MOUNTAINS. COULD SEE SOME HEAVIER RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS HERE. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT SUNDAY WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND CONTINUED COOL TEMPERATURES. DRY NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUES INTO MONDAY WITH BUILDING HEIGHTS. SHOULD BE MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARMER. ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL BE APPROACHING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST LATER TUESDAY. THIS SYSTEM ARRIVES LATE ENOUGH THAT WE WILL HAVE ANOTHER MOSTLY SUNNY DAY. 94 .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...A PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL BE OVER THE REGION TUESDAY NIGHT BUT WITH VERY LITTLE PRECIPITATION. THIS TROUGH WILL SPLIT WITH THE NORTHERN PORTION CONTINUING EASTWARD AND THE SOUTHERN PORTION DROPPING SOUTH OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. THIS WILL PLACE THE FORECAST IN A DRY NORTHWEST FLOW WITH A RIDGE AMPLIFYING IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC. THEREFORE THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD WILL SEE MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES AND GRADUAL WARMING TEMPERATURES HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION...00Z TAFS...VFR CONDITIONS WILL BE PREVALENT FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS BUT UNDER MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH CEILINGS AROUND 8000-12000 FEET MSL. SOME SHOWERS AND POTENTIAL THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MAINLY IMPACT SITES KPDT AND KALW THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. WINDS OF 10 TO 20 KTS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING THEN DECREASE OVERNIGHT. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 53 74 49 79 / 20 10 10 10 ALW 57 76 54 80 / 20 10 10 10 PSC 56 79 53 83 / 20 10 10 0 YKM 49 75 51 80 / 20 10 10 10 HRI 55 78 52 82 / 20 10 10 0 ELN 49 71 49 75 / 20 10 10 10 RDM 42 72 41 78 / 20 10 0 0 LGD 47 70 45 76 / 30 20 10 10 GCD 44 71 41 78 / 20 10 10 0 DLS 54 75 53 80 / 20 10 10 10 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...NONE. WA...NONE. && FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT... WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PENDLETON 94/91/91
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Tri-City Herald.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, August 2014
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: 531595.