An incoming front brought high winds to a few locations in south central 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 MFR wrote it up.
An incoming front brought high winds to a few locations in 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 May 5, 7:10 AM PST, 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Medford OR
810 AM PDT Thu May 5 2022
.DISCUSSION...05/12Z NAM in.
The Medford forecast area will remain in a relatively cool and
occasionally wet and windy pattern for the next week or so.
An upper level long wave trough off the coast will eject short
waves toward the Pacific Northwest through Saturday. One such wave
is moving through now, and another will follow Friday evening. The
front associated with the first wave is now moving onshore and the
front associated with the second wave will move onshore Friday
afternoon.
Each of these fronts will bring a round of winds and precipitation
to the area. The parent trough, and thus the colder air, will
remain offshore, so snow levels will remain high through Saturday.
Snow levels will be above 7000 feet today, dropping to above 6000
feet tonight. Snow levels will drop to the 4000 to 5000 foot level
Friday night, then rise a bit with the surface warming Saturday.
Precipitation will not make much of an impact overall, but any
precipitation in the current melieu is considered to be
beneficial by many.
Winds will have more of an impact, with gale force winds forecast
with each front over the coastal waters and gusty winds east of
the Cascades as well. See PDXMWWMFR for details on the marine
based warnings and advisories, and see PDXNPWMFR for details on
the east side Wind Advisory.
The long wave trough will move onshore Saturday night into Sunday,
and once it does it will hang around for a while. This will bring
a showery regime to the area with falling snow levels.
Thunderstorms are also a possibility.
Sunday night into Monday morning the air mass will be at its
coldest, unusually cold (coldest 2 percent for this time of year.
At this time, snow may impact the mountain passes. There may also
be frost/freeze concerns that may impact growers/agricultural
interests. Pending the evolution of the upper low moving in Sunday
or Sunday night, moderate precipitation combined with snow levels
dipping to around 2000 feet, could cause snowfall to accumulate
in the Higher Cascades and Siskiyous. Roadway impacts would
probably only occur at elevations 5000 feet and higher, but snow
could be seen falling at much lower elevations.
Long term discussion from the early Thursday morning AFD...Beyond
Monday, there are big differences between the 100 potential
solutions across the 3 major model families (American, Canadian,
European). They basically fall into two general clusters
--one suggesting drying and warming conditions next week (about 45
percent of solutions), while the other suggests brief drying and
warming but additional lows bringing more precipitation through
the week (about 55 percent of solutions). The forecast represents
a blend of these two. Stay tuned, and we'll keep you updated.
Needless to say, this precipitation is primarily beneficial
considering the severe drought conditions. Keene
&&
.AVIATION...05/12Z TAFs... Rain is starting to fall ahead of a warm
front moving into the region. Ceilings are currently a mix of VFR
and MVFR with higher ceilings farther to the east away from the
front. As the front moves inland through the day, MVFR ceilings
are more likely. LIFR ceilings will begin to build along the coast
later tonight and Friday morning.
Aside from ceilings, there will be pockets of low level wind shear
this morning as winds aloft are 40 knots around 2000 feet above
ground level near KOTH.
-Smith
&&
.MARINE...Updated 800 AM PDT Thursday 5 May 2022...Gale force
winds will build over the waters later this morning as a warm front
moves through. Winds will lower into the evening when another cold
front moves through the region. Conditions will remain hazardous to
small crafts through tonight as seas remain high and steep. Another
front on Sunday will bring more steep seas to the waters.
Gale Warnings, Hazardous Seas Warnings, and Small Craft Advisories
are in effect. See PDXMWWMFR for details.
&&
MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...Wind Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 2 AM PDT Saturday for
ORZ030-031.
CA...Wind Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 2 AM PDT Saturday for
CAZ085.
Pacific Coastal Waters...
Small Craft Advisory until 2 AM PDT Friday for PZZ356-370-376.
Gale Warning from 11 AM this morning to 8 PM PDT this evening
for PZZ350-356-370-376.
Hazardous Seas Warning from 11 AM this morning to 8 PM PDT this
evening for PZZ350-356-370-376.
Small Craft Advisory until 11 AM PDT this morning for PZZ350.
Small Craft Advisory from 8 PM this evening to 2 AM PDT Friday
for PZZ350.
15/12/12The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Coffee Pot Flat RAWS recorded a gust to 59 mph at 05/0944 PDT. The ODOT sensor on US395 at Alkali Lake recorded a gust to 58 mph at 05/1131 PDT.
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, May 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: 1013866.