A rather strong storm system impacted eastern Oregon during the afternoon and evening hours. This produced scattered thunderstorms which produce spotty strong wind gusts across the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon.
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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.
A rather strong storm system impacted eastern Oregon during the afternoon and evening hours. This produced scattered thunderstorms which produce spotty strong wind gusts across the Blue Mountains of northeast 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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 23, 3:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pendleton OR 430 PM PDT Tue Jul 23 2019 .SHORT TERM...Tonight through Friday...Monsoon moisture is beginning to fire up some thunderstorms over southeast Oregon. Meanwhile, the upper level trough off the coast has a shortwave that is approaching the coast. The shortwave will provide the lift, in addition to the daily heating, to trigger isolated to scattered thunderstorms across most of the forecast area overnight. Some of these storms could become strong to severe mainly over northeast Oregon and far eastern Washington. The shortwave will exit the area late tonight with showers and thunderstorms ending. Breezy to windy conditions will develop behind the shortwave passage through the night and then decrease Wednesday. Forecast area will then be under a dry westerly flow Wednesday through Friday. Temperatures will be a little cooler on Wednesday and then warm gradually Thursday and Friday back to normal seasonal levels. .LONG TERM...Friday night through Wednesday...Dry conditions under mostly westerly flow are expected through the extended period. Biggest concern at this point will be breezy to locally windy conditions through and downwind of gaps through the Cascades, mostly during the afternoons and early evenings with around a 10F thermal gradient in place. These winds will be further enhanced by a pair of weak shortwaves embedded in westerly flow Friday night and again Monday strengthening onshore flow. Daytime highs will be near normals through the extended. While afternoon RHs will be close to critical values, the strongest winds will occur largely after peak heating. Still, any new starts in fine fuels near Cascade gaps will likely be difficult to control from late afternoon through early evening. Peck && .AVIATION...Increasing mid-level cloudiness ahead of an approaching upper level trough. May initially see some surface-based convection firing near/just to the north of BDN/RDM by late afternoon/evening, but think bulk of the activity will be elevated ahead of the stronger forcing moving though the Columbia Basin and Blues 01-08Z before exiting the region to the northeast. Storms should have some decent precipitation cores but given high cloud bases and a substantially dry sub-cloud layer, much will evaporate prior to reaching the ground with gusty and erratic winds associated with rain-cooled downdrafts. Outside of thunderstorms winds will also be breezy to locally windy with a strong marine push coming through gaps through the Cascades. Winds taper off by late Wednesday morning. && .FIRE WEATHER...A red flag warning continues in effect until 5 am Wednesday. Abundant lightning will occur followed by some increasing westerly winds. Any new fire starts or existing fires could experience rapid fire growth overnight. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 61 84 54 89 / 40 0 0 0 ALW 64 84 58 90 / 40 0 0 0 PSC 65 86 56 91 / 50 0 0 0 YKM 58 85 53 89 / 40 0 0 0 HRI 64 86 55 92 / 50 0 0 0 ELN 60 78 51 86 / 30 0 0 0 RDM 47 83 46 90 / 30 0 0 0 LGD 58 80 50 87 / 30 0 0 0 GCD 56 83 52 91 / 30 0 0 0 DLS 62 84 58 92 / 20 0 0 0 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...Red Flag Warning until 5 AM PDT Wednesday for ORZ640-641. WA...Red Flag Warning until 5 AM PDT Wednesday for WAZ641-675. && 91/74/74
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Pendleton OR 608 PM PDT Tue Jul 23 2019 ORZ041-044-049-050-502-503-505>511-WAZ024-026>030-520-521-240700- East Columbia River Gorge-Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon- Grande Ronde Valley-Wallowa County- Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon- Southern Blue Mountains of Oregon-John Day Basin-Ochoco- John Day Highlands- Foothills of the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon- Foothills of the Southern Blue Mountains of Oregon- East Slopes of the Oregon Cascades-North Central Oregon- Central Oregon-Eastern Columbia River Gorge of Washington- Kittitas Valley-Yakima Valley-Lower Columbia Basin of Washington- Foothills of the Blue Mountains of Washington- Northwest Blue Mountains-East Slopes of the Washington Cascades- Simcoe Highlands- Including the cities of Arlington, The Dalles, Boardman, Hermiston, Ione, Cove, Elgin, La Grande, Union, Enterprise, Joseph, Wallowa, Meacham, Tollgate, Long Creek, North Powder, Ukiah, Dayville, John Day, Mitchell, Monument, Spray, Brothers, Paulina, Prairie City, Seneca, Athena, Pendleton, Pilot Rock, Heppner, Condon, Fossil, Camp Sherman, La Pine, Sisters, Sunriver, Dufur, Maupin, Moro, Bend, Madras, Prineville, Redmond, White Salmon, Ellensburg, Thorp, Naches, Sunnyside, Toppenish, Yakima, Connell, Prosser, Tri-Cities, Dayton, Waitsburg, Walla Walla, Ski Bluewood Resort, Appleton, Cle Elum, Cliffdell, Goldendale, and Bickleton 608 PM PDT Tue Jul 23 2019 ...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING... A cold front will rapidly move across the region this evening and will combine with daytime heating to produce thunderstorms. Some of the storms may become strong and produce gusty winds to 50 mph...hail...frequent lightning...brief heavy rain up to a quarter inch. In addition breezy to windy west winds will accompany the front and behind it. Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or social media...for the latest possible updates. vp
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Pendleton OR 656 PM PDT Tue Jul 23 2019 ORZ049-050-502-240230- Grande Ronde Valley OR-Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon OR- Wallowa County OR- 656 PM PDT Tue Jul 23 2019 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHEASTERN UMATILLA...NORTH CENTRAL UNION AND NORTHWESTERN WALLOWA COUNTIES UNTIL 730 PM PDT... At 655 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 13 miles north of Minam, or 32 miles southeast of Walla Walla, moving northeast at 20 mph. Penny size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Elgin, Minam, Flora, Spout Springs, Paradise and Troy. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe shelter inside a building or vehicle. && LAT...LON 4554 11774 4555 11810 4599 11809 4599 11702 TIME...MOT...LOC 0155Z 207DEG 17KT 4581 11776 VP
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
705 PM PDT Tue Jul 23 2019
WAZ029-030-240245-
Northwest Blue Mountains WA-
Foothills of the Blue Mountains of Washington WA-
705 PM PDT Tue Jul 23 2019
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN WALLA WALLA AND
COLUMBIA COUNTIES UNTIL 745 PM PDT...
At 705 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Ski Bluewood, or 20 miles southeast of Dayton, moving north at 30
mph.
Penny size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with
this storm.
Locations impacted include...
Dayton, Waitsburg, Starbuck, Dixie, Huntsville, Turner, Delaney, Ski
Bluewood and Kooskooskie.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm.
Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe
shelter inside a building or vehicle.
&&
LAT...LON 4600 11761 4601 11827 4656 11823 4650 11787
4647 11785 4647 11773 4640 11772 4638 11768
4634 11768 4633 11761
TIME...MOT...LOC 0205Z 182DEG 25KT 4608 11771
VPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
737 PM PDT TUE JUL 23 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0700 PM TSTM WND GST 3 N ELGIN 45.60N 117.92W
07/23/2019 E50 MPH UNION OR TRAINED SPOTTER
POWER OUTAGE...SMALL LIMBS DOWN AND WIND GUSTS BETWEEN 45
TO 50 MPH.
&&
VPThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Reports of power outages due to downed tree limbs in the area north of Elgin.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, July 2019
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: 847244.