A series of upper level trough passages resulted in rounds of showers and thunderstorms developing across the region the afternoon of May 17th. As one of these storms developed near the town of Hermiston, a funnel cloud was able to develop at the base of the storm.
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 PDT wrote it up.
A series of upper level trough passages resulted in rounds of showers and thunderstorms developing across the region the afternoon of May 17th. As one of these storms developed near the town of Hermiston, a funnel cloud was able to develop at the base of the storm.
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 May 17, 1:21 PM PST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pendleton OR 221 PM PDT Sat May 17 2025 .SHORT TERM... Tonight through Monday night...An upper trough will move eastward across the region through Sunday. As it does, an upper low ill drop down from Canada on Sunday and into the Great Basin Sunday night. Upper level ridging will move over the area early Monday. Zonal flow will allow for a weak system to bring precipitation, on Monday into Monday night. Any showers thunderstorms should move eastward overnight and mainly just impact the eastern mountains, and some of the Cascades on Sunday. Also, as the trough moves and low drops down, snow levels will decrease to as low as 3500 feet in some areas. There could be a couple of inches of snow along the crest of the Blue Mountains, but due to warm antecedent conditions significant accumulations at pass level is not anticipated. Winds will be gusty on Sunday. A wind advisory has already been issued for the Kittitas Valley with wind gusts expected in the 50 to 55 mph range, while many other areas, as the Simcoe Highlands, Foothills of the Blue Mountains and portions of the Columbia Basin will gust 25 to 35 mph and most areas will gust to at least 25 mph. NBM wind gust probabilities to 39 mph on Sunday are >90 percent across the areas mentioned above. However, wind gusts >=47 mph are generally 30 to 50% over these areas except for the Kittitas Valley, where it is 90%. Low temperatures Monday morning will be on average around 5 degrees, and in some areas closer to 10 degrees below normal, especially if the sky clears out and the winds drop off. Locations in the Grand Ronde Valley could be close to freezing, and this will have to be monitored. But if clouds remain longer or winds stay elevated, then temperatures won't be a cool as forecast. .LONG TERM... Tuesday through Saturday...A general westerly flow will remain over the area through the week. Another weak system will bring rain, mainly to the mountains Tuesday afternoon. Ridging then builds in for Tuesday night into Wednesday before another system brings another shot of precipitation, mainly for the mountains late Wednesday into early Thursday. Dry southwesterly flow is expected for Friday, before another system approaches for Saturday. Overall model guidance is in good agreement through the period, though there are some minor timing differences with respect to the individual features. && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS...Conditions are generally VFR, with some MVFR mixed in, as an area of showers moves through mainly eastern portions of the region. Conditions should then improve to VFR everywhere. There is still a low chance (20%) of thunderstorms this afternoon. Latest satellite shows clearing across portions of central Oregon and the western Columbia Basin but most other areas remain cloudy. If we areas remain cloudy, thunderstorm development should remain muted. Therefore, have opted not to put any thunderstorm mentions in the individual TAF sites until we see if/when development occurs. Otherwise, expect gusty winds at all sites except YKM/ALW/PSC today. Winds should gust to around 25 kts. Winds should decrease to around 10 to 15 kts overnight at DLS/PDT/RDM/BDN. Winds should increase everywhere on Sunday by late morning and become gusty to around 25 kts. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 44 61 39 66 / 50 20 0 50 ALW 44 60 42 64 / 90 30 10 50 PSC 45 67 40 70 / 70 10 0 30 YKM 41 65 38 69 / 10 0 0 30 HRI 44 66 41 70 / 40 10 0 40 ELN 41 59 38 65 / 10 0 0 40 RDM 34 57 33 67 / 10 0 0 10 LGD 39 53 33 64 / 70 30 10 40 GCD 37 53 32 65 / 70 20 10 30 DLS 46 63 43 66 / 10 0 0 40 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...None. WA...Wind Advisory from 8 AM to 8 PM PDT Sunday for WAZ026. && SHORT TERM...77 LONG TERM....77 AVIATION...77
The Pendleton radar (KPDT), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:29 UTC.
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
A member of the public provided a photo of a funnel cloud that occurred near the the town of Hermiston. Social media posts from local newspapers also provided other images of the funnel cloud taken around the Hermiston area. Location is estimated from radar and orientation of discernable landmarks in the photos.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, May 2025
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: 1268416.