A strong cold front brought strong winds to parts 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.
A strong cold front brought strong winds to parts 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 Dec 19, 5:25 AM PST, 2 hours 23 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Medford OR
525 AM PST Tue Dec 19 2017
.Updated Aviation Discussion.
.DISCUSSION...The latest models show no major surprises. A deep
upper level trough is dropping into the coastal waters this
morning and will push a cold front inland during the day. Short
term models bring rain to the coast around 9-10 am then into the
Umpqua Basin around noon, then into Jackson county by early
afternoon. The front will also bring strong winds to the coast
mainly near Cape Blanco and a high wind warning continues. Most of
the East side will also see strong winds with highway 31 from
Summer Lake to Paisley likely to see warning level winds.
It is during the late afternoon through the overnight hours that
the cold front will bring lower snow levels to the area. The snow
level is expected to hover around 4500-5000 foot range during the
day today, but are expected to lower to around 3000 feet in the
coastal range this evening. By midnight snow levels are expected
to lower to around 1500 feet, then down to the valley floors at
many locations. We have made some adjustments to the Illinois and
the Applegate valleys, especially for the area from O'Brien south
to the CA state line. It seems that past observations came in with
much lower snow levels than what the models indicate and we have
pushed the snow level down to the valley floor in these locations.
Elsewhere we have kept the forecast the same as in the previous
shift. Precipitation should be done by Thursday.
Beginning Wednesday night, temperatures will be quite cold as a
straight northerly flow sets up over our forecast area. Overnight
lows in the lower to mid 20s for the western valleys are likely
with freezing temperatures for the coastal valleys. Single digit
temperatures and even below zero lows are also possible east of
the Cascades.
Both the GFS and the ECMWF are in a remarkable agreement with the
next front Monday night and Tuesday. We have introduces chance
POPS for our forecast area during that time. /FB
&&
.AVIATION...19/12Z TAF CYCLE...The main concern will be low level
wind shear at the coast, including North Bend, Roseburg and Medford
Airports. Also strong surface winds are possible this afternoon at
Klamath Falls with peak gusts approaching 40 kts.
The TAF shows wind speed shear at 2,000 feet at Roseburg, but it
could develop as low as 1,000 late this morning. We'll continue to
monitor, so watch for updates. Wind speed shear should end at the
coast around 20z and 22z at Roseburg. Wind speed shear will be a
concern at Medford this morning, but there is some evidence stronger
winds could surface there around 20z and last into early this
evening. Thus, the above thinking has been added into the TAF and
took out the wind speed shear. Confidence on wind surfacing at
Medford is medium to high, but low to medium on the exact timing, so
watch for updates.
IFR and local MVFR Cigs are expected at the coast with occasional
reduction in visibility due to moderate to heavy precipitation from
around 20z until 3z. VFR Cigs are expected for inland westside
locations most of the day, however partial mountain obscuations are
possible this afternoon. MVFR CIgs will be a concern late this
afternoon into tonight due to moderate precipitation. A cold air
mass will follow this evening and snow levels will fall fairly
quick, and this will bring in more widespread MVFR/IFR cigs/vsbys in
rain and snow showers. -Petrucelli
&&
.MARINE...Updated 200 AM PST Tuesday 19 Dec 2017...South winds will
continue to increase this morning ahead of a strong cold front with
solid gales and steep wind driven seas expected. There's good
agreement with the timing of the front which is expected to move
onshore later this afternoon. Once this happens, winds will shift
from the south to the west to northwest and decrease. Therefore have
adjusted the end time of the gale warning to 4 pm pst this
afternoon. Winds will decrease some tonight but seas will remain
high due to a combination of winds and increasing west to northwest
swell moving into the waters later tonight. Seas are expected to
remain hazardous into Wednesday evening, therefore have extended the
end time for the hazardous seas warning until 10 pm pst Wednesday.
Please see MWWMFR for more details. Winds will turn north Wednesday
night and persist into the weekend with gradually subsiding seas.
-Petrucelli
&&
.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...Air Stagnation Advisory until 4 AM PST early this morning for
ORZ029>031.
Winter Weather Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST
Wednesday for ORZ029>031.
Wind Advisory from 10 AM this morning to 4 AM PST Wednesday for
ORZ030-031.
Winter Storm Warning from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST
Wednesday for ORZ029-030.
High Wind Warning from 10 AM this morning to 4 AM PST Wednesday
for ORZ031.
Winter Weather Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST
Wednesday for ORZ027-028.
Winter Storm Warning from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST
Wednesday for ORZ027-028.
High Wind Warning from 7 AM this morning to 4 PM PST this
afternoon for ORZ021-022.
Winter Weather Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST
Wednesday for ORZ023>026.
Air Stagnation Advisory until 4 AM PST early this morning for
ORZ023-024-026.
Winter Storm Warning from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST
Wednesday for ORZ023-025-026.
CA...Winter Weather Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST
Wednesday for CAZ084-085.
Winter Weather Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST
Wednesday for CAZ080>083.
Winter Storm Warning from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST
Wednesday for CAZ080.
Pacific Coastal Waters...Small Craft Advisory until 4 PM PST this
afternoon for PZZ356-376. Gale Warning until 4 PM PST this
afternoon for PZZ350-356-370-376. Hazardous Seas Warning
from 4 PM this afternoon to 10 PM PST Wednesday for PZZ350-356-
370-376.
FJB/FJB/MAPThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The ODOT sensor at Humbug Mountain recorded numerous gusts exceeding 57 mph during this interval. The peak gust was 63 mph, recorded at 19/1201 and 19/1231 PST.
The Squaw Peak RAWS recorded a gust to 82 mph at 19/1239 PST and a gust to 75 mph at 19/1439 PST.
The Summer Lake RAWS recorded a gust to 58 mph at 19/1438 PST and the Summit RAWS recorded a gust to 58 mph at 19/2103 PST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, December 2017
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: 725090, 725091, 725092.