An incoming front brought strong winds to a few locations in southwest and south central Oregon.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
An incoming front brought strong winds to a few locations in 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 Apr 20, 8:38 AM PST, 38 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Medford OR
938 AM PDT Wed Apr 20 2022
.DISCUSSION...Today will be an active weather day, with gusty winds, showers and
thunderstorms, and mountain snowfall. Lightning activity is quiet
inland and over the coastal waters this morning, but there has been
lightning observed over the offshore waters. The frontal boundary is
pushing into the coastal waters right now, and there are two pieces
of energy behind that, and these will bring showers and a few
thunderstorms to the forecast area later this morning/early this
afternoon and again late in the afternoon and evening. Models are
still depicting impressive wind profiles from the coastal waters up
to the Cascades through the mid-afternoon hours, and this could
combine with marginal instability to generate strong storms or
perhaps a severe storm (gust to 58 mph). The area we're watching
most closely for this are Douglas and Coos Counties, generally from
Interstate 5 westward. This is where we could see strong winds and
perhaps hail up to dime size. We feel like it will be hard to
maximize wind potential today because of the relatively weak
instability, but it's worth messaging the potential.
The next round of storm potential comes late afternoon into the
evening when the coldest air aloft moves overhead. The severe threat
will diminish because winds aloft diminish, but gusty winds are
still possible with any of these storms.
Lastly, we have a High Wind Warning out for the coast today,
partially for the frontal winds this morning (gusts to 55mph at Gold
Beach recently) and partially for the expected heavy showers and
thunderstorms bringing down strong winds from aloft. The
showers/thunderstorms are the main reason for the Wind Advisory over
inland areas west of the Cascades, though gusty winds are also
possible in Roseburg, Medford, Cave Junction, and Grants Pass as the
front pushes through this morning. East of the Cascades and in the
Shasta Valley, a steady strong wind is expected through the day, and
Wind Advisories highlight this. Please see the previous discussion
for more details on the active weather today and tomorrow...and in
the extended.
&&
.AVIATION...20/12Z TAFs...The main aviation hazards today will
be occasionally strong, gusty winds, areas of low-level wind
shear this morning along the coast and turbulence inland as
another strong front approaches the coast. The front will
move onshore this morning with a mix of MVFR and VFR ceilings. Areas
of higher terrain will become obscured. Expect an area of
precipitation to accompany the front inland this morning into this
afternoon, with numerous showers and isolated to scattered
thunderstorms developing behind it. A few of the stronger showers
will have gusty winds and the possibility of small hail. The thunder
risk continues into this evening, with lower probabilities
overnight. An airport weather warning is in effect for Klamath Falls
for wind gusts exceeding 35 kt from late this morning through early
this evening. Confidence in wind gusts exceeding 35 kt is lower at
Medford, but some potential exists there as well. We'll be
evaluating that through this morning. -Spilde
&&
.MARINE...Updated 200 AM PDT Wednesday, 20 April 2022...A strong
front will bring gales and very steep seas this morning.
Thunderstorms are possible, and some could be strong with gusty
winds and small hail. An active pattern is expected to continue
through late this week. A long period swell will arrive Thursday
afternoon peaking at 14 to 16 feet, 17 seconds Thursday night, then
gradually subsiding into this weekend. The duration of long period
swell should be rather brief Thursday night. North winds, albeit
fairly weak, should return Friday into the weekend.
-Sven/Spilde
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /Issued 459 AM PDT Wed Apr 20 2022/
DISCUSSION...Morning satellite imagery is showing a potent
frontal system offshore that will move onshore later this morning
(15-18z). We are expecting some impactful weather, primarily the
winds, but also rain, mountain snow and the chance for some strong
thunderstorms.
Winds are picking up over the coastal waters at this early hour
and will become quite strong there as the front nears the coast.
Some of these strong winds will move onshore closer to daybreak.
Pressure gradient OTH-ACV is approximately -6 mb, which is not
quite where it needs to be for a high wind warning, but synoptic
winds just above the ground are in the 45-55 kt range. We're
thinking some places along the coast will have wind gusts of 55
mph this morning with winds >=60 mph at the headlands. If
traveling Highway 101 this morning, please be aware of the
potential for gusty winds and keep a firm grip on the steering
wheel. We have a plethora of wind advisory headlines out for
inland areas, which can be viewed at NPWMFR. The thinking here is
that gradient and synoptic winds (45-55kt at 700mb) will be enough
to bring advisory level winds (>=45 mph gusts) to much of the
area beginning later this morning (this afternoon East Side),
lasting into this evening. The other driver of the winds will be
pre-frontal turbulent mixing as the atmosphere warms this morning.
This will allow some of the higher momentum air aloft to transfer
to the surface.
Rain will accompany the front onshore this morning, spreading
inland to the Siskiyous by late morning, then around noon over to
the Cascades, where it will fall as snow mainly above about 5000
feet. With the higher snow levels and the precip arriving during
the warmer part of the day, we don't expect significant impacts
to roadways. Even so, be prepared for occasional slippery
conditions and lower visibility if traveling into the mountains
today into tonight. Surface winds will likely bring a rain shadow
to some west side valleys during this time period, but a wind
shift to SW should allow for a period of rain to move through this
afternoon.
An upper level shortwave will swing into the area behind the front
this afternoon and evening. This area of colder air aloft will
result in steep mid-level lapse rates and enough instability to
cause plenty of showers and some deeper convection. Sounding
analysis this morning reveals moisture depth 15-20K ft and CAPE
in the 200-500 J/KG range, which is deep/unstable enough for some
healthier cells. Given shear magnitudes in the 25-35kt range, some
stronger cells will have the ability to sustain or remain
organized. While just about anywhere from Highway 97 westward
could have a thunderstorm this afternoon/evening, the best chance
for thunderstorms is along the coast and over the coastal waters.
The main threat with any stronger cells this afternoon will be
gusty winds and small hail.
A deep upper trough/closed low will persist offshore on Thursday,
so we'll maintain the cool, unsettled pattern with more showers
and a chance of thunderstorms. The upper trough will shift
overhead Thursday night, then move into the Great Basin on Friday.
While most of the activity will shift to the south and east of us
Friday, there is still enough energy and instability on the back
side of the trough to bring a chance of showers, especially in the
afternoon/evening, when the atmosphere will be most unstable. It
looks like we'll finally get a break in the weather this weekend
as a short wave ridge builds in. The extended forecast discussion
from yesterday afternoon (below) is still valid. -Spilde
Saturday through Sunday morning high pressure will build in
over the PNW. This will open the chance for a foggy morning on
Saturday. This would be especially true in the Coquille valley and
Umpqua Basin but, we can't rule out fog forming to the south south
in Jackson and Josephine Counties. Afternoon temperatures on
Saturday will have a chance to climb a couple of degrees above
normal west of the Cascades and near normal east of the Cascades.
Sunday afternoon, temperatures will be warmer yet, approaching 70
degrees and 5-10 degrees above normal, west of the Cascades; and
around 5 degrees above normal east of the Cascades, into the lower
60s.
There is sound agreement that the pattern will become active again
at the start of next week. The timing accounts for a larger source
of variation in the ensembles, mainly tied to when the ridge breaks
down. There are some differences in the depth of the trough and this
will mainly effect how much rain makes it east of the Cascades. The
latest guidance suggests the higher chances lie with a system that
is on the weaker side. -Miles
&&
.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...Wind Advisory from 2 PM this afternoon to 10 PM PDT this evening
for ORZ029>031.
High Wind Warning until 1 PM PDT this afternoon for ORZ021-022.
Wind Advisory until 5 PM PDT this afternoon for ORZ023>026.
CA...Wind Advisory from 2 PM this afternoon to 10 PM PDT this evening
for CAZ084-085.
Wind Advisory until 5 PM PDT this afternoon for CAZ081.
Pacific Coastal Waters...
High Wind Warning until 1 PM PDT this afternoon for PZZ356.
Gale Warning until 2 PM PDT this afternoon for
PZZ350-356-370-376.
Hazardous Seas Warning from 2 PM this afternoon to 11 AM PDT
Thursday for PZZ350-356-370-376.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The ODOT sensor on US Highway 101 at Humbug Mountain recorded a gust to 64 mph at 20/0930 PST and a gust to 64 mph at 20/1845 PST.
The Klamath Falls ASOS recorded a gust to 60 mph at 20/1145 PST and a gust to 59 mph at 20/1253 PST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, April 2022
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: 1009750, 1009752.