One of the last of a series of fronts brought high winds to portions of southwest and south central Oregon.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
One of the last of a series of fronts brought high winds to portions of southwest and south central Oregon.
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 17, 3:35 AM PST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
335 AM PST WED FEB 17 2016
.DISCUSSION...WET AND WINDY SYSTEM MOVES IN TODAY...NOT
NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER. WINDS INCREASE BY LATE MORNING IN THE
SHASTA VALLEY AS THE RDD-MFR PRESSURE GRADIENT INCREASING TO 7 MB.
THIS WILL BRING HIGH WIND WARNING WINDS TO MOSTLY THE SOUTHERN
HALF OF THE SHASTA VALLEY WITH ADVISORY WINDS IN THE REMAINDER OF
THE SHASTA VALLEY...SPILLING OVER INTO THE ROGUE VALLEY. WINDS
WILL BE STRONGEST NEAR ASHLAND. WITH WINDS UP THROUGH 700 MB
ALIGNING WITH THE ILLINOIS VALLEY AND DOWNWARD TRANSPORT OF
MOMENTUM IN SHOWERS AM EXPECTING WIND ADVISORY WINDS IN THE
ILLINOIS VALLEY AS WELL TODAY. SOUTHWEST 700 MB WINDS OF 60-65 KT
EAST OF THE CASCADES INDICATE HIGH WIND WARNINGS IN PORTIONS OF
THAT AREA AS WELL MOSTLY ALONG THE WINTER RIM AND IN THE SUMMER
VALLEY AND THE WARNERS...WITH ADVISORY WINDS OVER MUCH OF THE
REMAINDER OF THE EAST SIDE. MODELS ARE INDICATING INSTABLITY
ALONG AND ON EITHER SIDE OF THE CASCADES AND HAVE ADDED SLIGHT
CHANCE TS IN THAT ARE TODAY. A COLD AIR MASS MOVES IN THIS
AFTERNOON WITH SLIGHT CHANCE TS INDICATED OVER THE COASTAL WATERS
AND THE COAST THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. AS THE COLD AIR MASS MOVES
IN SNOW LEVELS DROP HIS EVENING AS THE SYSTEM MOVES IN. THIS
SYSTEM MOVES IN ON THE LEFT EXIT REGION OF A 140 KT JET THAT IS
BROADLY DIVERGENT OVER THE FORECAST AREA...BRINGING SNOW LEVELS
DOWN TO AROUND 3500 FEET LATE THIS EVENING.
THERE WILL BE A BRIEF LULL IN THE ACTION THURSDAY EVENING INTO
FRIDAY MORNING BEFORE THE NEXT SYSTEM MOVES IN. THE PRESSURE
GRADIENT TIGHTENS FROM ACV TO OTH FRIDAY WITH BL WINDS OF 50-55KT
ALONG THE COAST POSSIBLY BRINGING WIND TO HIGH WIND WARNING ON THE
COAST...BUT WITH THE CURRENT WIND WARNINGS IN EFFECT WILL NOT
ISSUE A WATCH TO PREVENT CONFUSION. SVEN
&&
.AVIATION...FOR THE 17/06Z TAF CYCLE...INCREASING WINDS AND MID TO
HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS, A RESULT OF AN APPROACHING FRONTAL SYSTEM, SHOULD
LIMIT FOG DEVELOPMENT IN MOST PLACES OVERNIGHT. EXPECT MOSTLY VFR
CIGS AND VIS OVERNIGHT. STRONG SOUTH WINDS WILL BEGIN TO IMPACT
TERMINALS WEDNESDAY MORNING...AND TURBULENCE WILL INCREASE ACROSS
THE AREA. BEFORE STRONG WINDS ALOFT BEGIN SURFACE AT THE COAST...LOW
LEVEL WIND SHEAR IS POSSIBLE AT TERMINALS LIKE OTH WEDNESDAY
MORNING. PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN TO ENTER THE REGION WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON WHICH WILL BEGIN TO LOWER CIGS AND VSBYS...AND BEGIN TO
OBSCURE MOUNTAINS IN THE COAST RANGE. HOWEVER...MOST TERMINALS
INLAND FROM THE COAST SHOULD REMAIN VFR THROUGH TOMORROW AFTERNOON.
ADDITIONALLY...THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS AT THE COAST AND
JUST INLAND WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.
SK
&&
.MARINE...UPDATED 230 AM PST WED FEB 17, 2016...STORMY WEATHER IS
EXPECTED TO RETURN TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST THROUGH FRIDAY AS A
SERIES OF STRONG FRONTS MOVES THROUGH. THE FIRST FRONT WILL MOVE
THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. THE LATEST MODELS ARE NOT AS STRONG ON THE
WINDS AS IN PREVIOUS RUN AND WE WILL GO WITH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY
FOR BOTH WINDS AND SEAS FOR THE REST OF TODAY AND TONIGHT.
FURTHERMORE, VERY STEEP SEAS ARE EXPECTED BEGINNING WEDNESDAY DUE TO
THE COMBINATION OF WIND WAVES AND VERY HIGH FRESH WEST SWELL
PRODUCED BY A PERSISTENT STORM TRACK OVER THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC.
A TROUGH WILL MOVE IN BEHIND THIS COLD FRONT AND WILL HELP TO
INCREASE WINDS ON THURSDAY. WE HAVE PUSHED THE GALE WATCH OUT TO
THURSDAY AFTERNOON MORE IN LINE WITH THE TIMING OF THE TROUGH. THE
STRONGEST FRONT WILL BE ON FRIDAY WITH GALES LIKELY AND POSSIBLE
STORM FORCE WINDS. /FB
&&
.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 PM PST THIS
EVENING FOR ORZ030-031.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM PST
THURSDAY FOR ORZ029>031.
HIGH SURF ADVISORY FROM 6 AM TO 10 PM PST THURSDAY FOR
ORZ021-022.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 4 PM PST
THURSDAY FOR ORZ027-028.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM PST THIS EVENING
FOR ORZ024-026.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 PM PST THIS EVENING
FOR ORZ029.
CA...WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 PM PST THIS EVENING
FOR CAZ084.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM PST
THURSDAY FOR CAZ082-083.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM PST
THURSDAY ABOVE 3500 FEET FOR FOR CAZ080.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM PST THIS
EVENING FOR CAZ081.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 PM PST THIS
EVENING FOR CAZ085.
PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 AM PST
THURSDAY FOR PZZ350-356-370-376.
HIGH SURF ADVISORY FROM 6 AM TO 10 PM PST THURSDAY FOR PZZ356.
GALE WARNING FROM 10 AM THURSDAY TO 10 AM PST FRIDAY FOR
PZZ350-356-370-376.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS UNTIL 10 AM PST THURSDAY
FOR PZZ356-376.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS UNTIL 10 AM PST THIS
MORNING FOR PZZ350-370.
HAZARDOUS SEAS WARNING FROM 4 AM TO 10 AM PST THURSDAY FOR
PZZ370-376.
SBN/SBN/SBNThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Squaw Peak RAWS recorded a gust to 79 mph at 17/0539 PST, and gusts to 76 mph at 17/0639 PST and 17/1739 PST.
The Calimus RAWS recorded gusts exceeding 51 mph continuously during this interval. The peak gust was 71 mph recorded at 17/1800 PST.
The Klamath Falls Airport (KLMT) recorded a gust to 62 mph at 17/0253 PST, a gust to 58 mph at 17/1553 PST and a gust to 59 mph at 17/1753 PST. The Agrimet sensor at Worden recorded a gust to 59 mph at 17/1345 PST, a gust to 62 mph at 17/1515 PST, and a gust to 63 mph at 17/1530 PST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, February 2016
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: 613510, 613513, 613512.