A waterspout was observed over the Camas Slough near the Columbia River on June 18.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 PQR wrote it up.
A waterspout was observed over the Camas Slough near the Columbia River on June 18.
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 Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 18, 1:45 AM PST, 6 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Portland OR 245 AM PDT Sun Jun 18 2023 .SYNOPSIS...An upper trough will push across the region today through Tuesday, with cooler temperatures and plenty of showers. Could even see a few thunderstorms around, mainly Monday. Will be cool enough to have spotty light snow on the higher elevations of the Cascades. Warming back to seasonal levels later in the week. && .SHORT TERM...(Today through Tuesday)... Key Messages: 1) Cooler, with showers today through Tuesday. 2) Lots of showers and isolated thunderstorms Monday. 3) Some new snow for areas above 4500 feet in Cascades. Not much change in the current forecasts, as trends continue to track as earlier expected. A cold front offshore will push onshore today.May see a band of light rain or steady drizzle along the coast into the Coast Range is it comes onshore, with spotty drizzle or brief light rain farther inland this morning. But, front is fairly anemic, with bulk of precipitation coming in the afternoon as more unstable air mass aloft shifts into the region. As such, will have increasing showers for most of the day into this evening. Much cooler today, with temperatures only in the 50s to lower 60s along the coast, and 60s inland valleys. Likely to only rise up to the 40s for most of the Cascades. Likewise, cooler tonight and again Monday night, with upper 30s to mid 40s for most areas, but freezing temperatures in the higher Cascades. Brrrrr, Junuary anyone? Main upper trough axis will push over the region on Monday, with plenty of showers. Appears to be enough instability to support isolated thunderstorms, some with heavier rain. So, will upgrade wording to isolated thunderstorms for Mon into Mon evening. Showers continue into Tuesday as another upper disturbances moves onshore. Showers will be scattered in nature with some locations receiving more rain than others, though general QPF for today through Tuesday indicates anywhere from 0.25 to 1.00 inch across lowlands, with 1 to perhaps 2 inches over the Cascades and Coast Range. Additionally, the cold nature of this weather system will drop snow levels to 4500 to 5000 feet by later today into tonight, and staying in the range for Monday. Snow levels will rise slowly up to 6000 ft on Tuesday. NBM 4.2 is indicating an 80-95% chance of over 1 inch of snow and 30-80% chance of over 4 inches of snow for tonight through Tuesday night. Additionally, it is indicating a 20-40% chance of above 8 inches of snow at the highest elevations of the Cascades, locally up to a 50-75% chance over Mount Hood and Mount St Helens. Due to the scattered nature of the snow showers, warmer roads, and the longer period of daylight hours, the majority of fallen snow is not expected to stick to roads. However, motorists are encouraged to use caution while driving during snow as wet roads will still be slick. .LONG TERM...Wednesday through Friday...By Wednesday, ensemble guidance indicates the main upper trough will move northeast into Canada with weaker troughing remaining over the region. This will keep occasional shower and thunderstorm chances over the Cascades into Friday. Temperatures will bounce back to right around 70 degrees on Wednesday, warming further to the upper 70s to low 80s for late week. -HEC && .AVIATION...12z TAFs: Shower coverage will increase from northwest to southeast overnight as a deep low pressure system approaches the region, with shower activity continuing through the end of the TAF period. Expect mainly VFR conditions at the terminals, though intermittent periods of MVFR will be possible. For detailed Pac NW aviation weather information, go online to: http://weather.gov/zse KPDX AND APPROACHES...Primarily VFR cigs with showers starting after 12z. Could see some intermittent periods of MVFR, but guidance keeps these probabilities around 30 percent through 18z Sun. Expect showery VFR pattern to persist through the end of the period. -BMuhlestein/CB && .MARINE...An upper level cutoff low originating in the Gulf of Alaska will slowly track south along the coastline towards the Pacific NW into Monday. Due to the track and placement of the low northwesterly winds will remain off the coast of British Columbia Sunday and move into Washington Monday. This will maintain a fresh northwesterly swell around 5 to 7 ft, 10 sec across the coastal waters into Tuesday. The associated surface low will migrate offshore from Vancouver Island Monday night and send a weak front across the waters into early Tuesday morning. Hires model guidance suggests a weak coastal jet forming over PZZ252 between Cape Falcon and Cape Foulweather. Wind gusts up to 30 kt are possible for a brief period as the front moves onshore. Expect a wind driven sea to form during this time with southerly waves of 4 to 6 ft around 6 sec to form within the jet. This coupled with an approaching northwesterly swell of 6 ft at 10 sec will create confused seas until the winds diminish Tuesday evening. Seas will remain around 5 ft through midweek. The new moon Saturday night will produce stronger tidal currents during the early morning ebb cycle through Tuesday morning. Those moving in and out of harbors and crossing coastal bars should use caution. -BMuhlestein && .PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...None. WA...None. PZ...None. && www.weather.gov/portland Interact with us via social media: www.facebook.com/NWSPortland www.twitter.com/NWSPortland
The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:05 UTC.
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Social Media video shared via Twitter showed a funnel cloud with observable rotation. The person was located in Camas, WA near SE 2nd Ave and SE Cedar St facing south towards the Columbia River. A media article shared another video of the waterspout over the Camas Slough and stated that the waterspout was observed for several minutes.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, June 2023
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: 1123377.