A cold and very dry air mass and offshore flow all combined to bring freezing temperatures to parts of the southern Oregon coast.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
A cold and very dry air mass and offshore flow all combined to bring freezing temperatures to parts of the southern Oregon coast.
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 Feb 23, 1:15 AM PST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
115 AM PST MON FEB 23 2015
.DISCUSSION...23/00Z NAM/GFS IN.
A STRONG LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE WIND EVENT IS NOW IN PROGRESS OVER THE
MEDFORD CWA WITH CLEAR SKIES EVERYWHERE AND GUSTY WINDS OVER THE
RIDGES.
A REX BLOCK OFFSHORE ALONG 132W WILL BEGIN TO WEAKEN LATER THIS
MORNING. A STRONG SHORT WAVE DUG INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TODAY AND
IT WILL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTH AND THEN EAST NOW INTO TUESDAY.
NORTHEAST FLOW ALOFT REMAINS IN PLACE. THE AIR MASS IS VERY COLD
AND LOW TEMPERATURES WILL PLUNGE THIS MORNING AND AGAIN TUESDAY
MORNING...ESPECIALLY EAST OF THE CASCADES. TUESDAY MORNING MAY
WIND UP BEING THE COLDEST ONE IN UNSHELTERED AREAS AS WINDS WILL
BE LIGHT BY THEN AND THIS WILL ALLOW FOR MORE RADIATIVE COOLING.
AN EXCEPTION WILL BE THE RIDGES ABOVE A SUBSIDENCE INVERSION THAT
WILL DROP DOWN INTO THE TERRAIN MONDAY NIGHT...THOSE AREAS WILL BE
WARMER.
THE OFFSHORE BLOCK WILL WEAKEN...BUT A RIDGE WILL PERSIST
OFFSHORE. FLOW ALOFT WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT FROM NORTHEAST TO
NORTHWEST MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL BECOME ONSHORE.
AS THE RIDGE FLATTENS...SHORT WAVES WILL MOVE OVER THE TOP OF IT
INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. THIS WILL BRING THE NEXT CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA BEGINNING LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO
THURSDAY MORNING.
LONG TERM DISCUSSION FROM THE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AFD...THURSDAY
THROUGH SUNDAY. THE ECMWF AND GFS ARE IN REMARKABLE AGREEMENT
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED FORECAST. THURSDAY BEGINS
THE DAY WITH AN UPPER LEVEL LOW BEGINNING TO SLIDE DOWN THE BACK
SIDE OF THE UPPER RIDGE OFFSHORE AND A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH
THE REGION. SHOWERS CONTINUE BEHIND THE FRONT AS THE UPPER LEVEL
LOW SLIDES DOWN THE COAST INTO SOUTHERN OREGON FRIDAY. AS THE
UPPER LEVEL LOW CONTINUES TO MOVE SOUTH FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY
MORNING SHOWERS DIMINISH AS THE UPPER RIDGE QUICKLY BUILDS BEHIND.
BY SUNDAY MORNING OFFSHORE FLOW LOOKS TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION
WITH A DRY PATTERN FOLLOWING. SVEN
&&
.AVIATION...FOR THE 23/06Z TAF CYCLE...VFR WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
MONDAY EVENING BUT WITH GUSTY EAST TO NORTHEAST WINDS. THESE WINDS
WILL BE STRONGEST OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN WITH GUSTS OF 20 TO 30 KT.
GUSTY WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE IN VALLEY LOCATIONS, ESPECIALLY FOR
AREAS EAST OF THE CASCADES MONDAY AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL BEGIN TO
DECREASE MONDAY EVENING. /CC
&&
.MARINE...UPDATED 900 PM PST SUNDAY, 22 FEB 2015...OFFSHORE HIGH
PRESSURE AND A THERMAL TROUGH NEAR THE COAST ARE PRODUCING GUSTY
NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS AND STEEP CHOPPY SEAS. WINDS AND SEAS WILL
REMAIN MODERATE AND STEEP THROUGH THIS MORNING. THEN THE THERMAL
TROUGH WILL WEAKEN THIS AFTERNOON INTO TUESDAY. NORTHERLY WINDS
ARE LIKELY TO BECOME MODERATE AGAIN OVER THE OUTER WATERS SOUTH OF
CAPE BLANCO TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS A THERMAL TROUGH
BRIEFLY BUILDS ALONG THE COAST. LATER IN THE WEEK, A LOW IS
EXPECTED TO MOVE SOUTH ALONG THE COAST AND JUST INLAND, BRINGING
NORTHWEST WINDS AND PERIODS OF RAIN TO THE WATERS. BEHIND THIS LOW
EXPECT INCREASED NORTH WINDS AND SEAS FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND. /CC
&&
.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...FREEZE WARNING FROM 2 AM TO 8 AM PST MONDAY FOR ORZ021-615.
CA...NONE.
PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS
UNTIL 7 AM PST MONDAY FOR PZZ350-356-370-376.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS UNTIL 4 AM PST MONDAY
FOR PZZ370-376.
15/15/18The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 frost/freeze. Local standard time, as filed.
Reported low temperatures ranged from 26 to 36 degrees.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, February 2015
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 553170.