Top 10 Weather Events of Oregon for
the 1900s: As the century draws to
a close, staff at the National Weather Service offices in Oregon have reviewed
records of major weather events to affect the state over the past 100 years.
Based on impacts to people, property and the economy, National Weather Service
has chosen the top ten weather-related events to impact Oregon in ascending
order. Choosing among the numerous 20th century weather events was a difficult
task. And many of the events did not impact just this state alone. These events
were widespread, impacting other parts of Western United States. You will also
note that most of the larger events are recent. This is due to the fact that
record keeping has improved in the latter half of the century, while urbanization
in the state has increased the economic impacts of severe storms and floods. Oregon's Top Ten: [ #1 ] [ #2 ]
[ #3 ] [ #4 ] [ #5 ] [ #6 ]
[ #7 ] [ #8 ] [ #9 ] [ #10 ]
Other States: Washington | Utah |
California
Deadly Flash Flood on June 14, 1903 at Heppner,
Oregon [historical photo]
This was surely the most deadly natural disaster in Oregon's recorded history.
A strong thunderstorm, accompanied by extremely heavy rain and hail, moved
near Heppner, Oregon. The storm covered a very small area, probably no more
than 50 square miles. Heavy rain fell in a very short time, creating severe
flash flooding along Willow Creek, normally a peaceful stream flowing through
the town center. The entire town was swept away in just a few short minutes,
drowning nearly 247 people. Eyewitnesses say thunderstorm rains arrived as
a 40-foot wall of water and the ensuing flood raged through town for over
an hour. In all, one-third of the towns' structures were wiped out. The massive
runoff of water was a result of heavy rain falling on the barren rocky hills,
then flowing into the Willow Creek watershed. Only fifteen minutes separated
the first rainwater in Willow Creek at Heppner and the flood crest! There
are no rainfall records available for this storm because the weather observing
station was completely destroyed, drowning the observer and his entire family.
A similar fate would have been in store for the citizens
of Ione, just 20 miles downstream. However, telephoned warnings prompted
an immediate evacuation and residents escaped to high ground. At least 150
homes were destroyed at Ione and bodies were washed more than 40 miles downstream
to the Columbia River.
May 1948 Vanport Flood of north Portland [several historical photos]
A city of 20,000 situated near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette
Rivers in Northwest Oregon was put under 15 feet of water in just two hours
when a dike holding back the snow melt swollen Columbia River failed. The
dike was thought to be impervious and well constructed. About 25 lives were
lost and 10,000 homes and their contents were destroyed. Evacuation was hampered
because a single road was the only route out of the disaster area. The city
of Vanport ceased to exist that day. It was eventually replaced by an race
track and a golf course.
Columbus Day Windstorm of October 1962 [historical
photos]
A generation of Oregonians received searing memories that day. This quintessential
windstorm became the standard against which all other statewide disasters
are now measured. The storm killed 38 people and injured many more and did
170-200 million dollars in damage (over 800 million in today's dollars). Wind
gusts reached 116 mph in downtown Portland. Cities lost power for 2 to 3 weeks
and over 50,000 dwellings were damaged. Agriculture took a devastating blow
as an entire fruit and nut orchards were destroyed. Scores of livestock were
killed as barns collapsed or trees were blown over on the animals. In fact, the amount of trees blown down during the Columbus Day storm was nearly 15 times that blown down by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
More on this storm...
Wind Speeds of the Columbus Day 1962 Storm
Location
Strongest Wind Speed
Astoria
Sustained 44 mph, peak gust of 96 mph
Newport
Peak gust of 138 mph before wind instrument was damaged
Mt Hebo radar site
Unofficial wind gust of 130 mph.
North Bend
Peak gust of 81 mph
Portland, Airport
frequent gusts 88 mph, with peak wind gust of 104 mph
(estimated since power was lost)
the Tillamook Wildfire Burns of August 1933 (and
again in 1939, 1945, and 1951)
An unusually hot, dry summer set the stage for this incredible environmental
disaster. On August 14, 1933 a fire ignited during a logging operation in
the Coast Range of NW Oregon. It quickly spread to 40,000 acres in just two
days. The blaze was initially battled by 1,800 fire fighters. Ten days later,
dry and strong east winds fanned the flames to a quarter million acres in
just 20 hours. The fire was phenomenally powerful, burning in huge, ancient
stands of old growth Douglas Fir timber. Some of the trees were five centuries
old. The flaming front of the fire was 18 miles long and illuminated the night
skies for scores of miles. A smoke column 8 miles high carried ash out to
sea where it fell on ships as far as 500 miles away from the coastline. Oregon
beaches had ash and cinders 2 feet deep for a stretch of 30 miles. The fire
burned uncontrolled until moist, west winds helped decrease its intensity.
A week later, wetting rain halted the spread, but the smoldering continued.
In subsequent years the unconsumed fuel burned again and again. These fires
were also devastating, but never equaled the appalling spectacle of the first
fire. In totality, over 13 billion board feet of timber was killed. A little
more than half was salvaged. The remainder could have provided enough wood
to give every man, woman, and child in the USA a 20'long 2x6 stud.
Floods of December 1964 to January 1965
The December 1964 rainstorm was undoubtedly the most severe rainstorm to ever
occur over central Oregon, and among the most severe over western Oregon since
the late 1870s. Several observing stations across central Oregon recorded
two-thirds of their normal annual rainfall in just 5 days. Scores of stations
set new records for both 24-hour totals and December monthly rainfall totals.
Widespread severe flooding occurred, with at least 30 major highway bridges
receiving such damage as to make them unuseable! The new John Day multi-million
dollar bridge was destroyed as were scores of bridges on county and secondary
roads. Hundreds of miles of roads and highways were washed out or badly damaged.
Thousands of people had to be evacuated due to ensuing floods. The Willamette
River at downtown Portland had a stage of 29.8 feet. This was a record high
for the winter season, and was within inches of the peak stage during the
Columbia River spring flood of 1948. Hundreds of homes and other buildings
were destroyed and an even greater number were badly damaged. .Heavy snow
followed by persistent heavy rains lead to record flooding in Oregon during
the later half of December 1964 and January 1965. In all, 17 people died.
Virtually every river in the state was far above flood stage and mudslides,
bridge failures, and inundation closed the state's roads, airports, and railways.
Reservoirs were overwhelmed early on in the storm and many proved unable to
release water fast enough to prevent overtopping. Dorena Dam, south of Eugene
had water flowing over the top more than 8 feet deep.
December 1964 rainfall totals and the normal
rainfall for December
(units are inches)
Floods of February 1996 [several
historical photos][ table of flood crests ]
In early February 1996 four days of heavy rain began after a period of extended,
bitter cold. Low level snow packs released up to 10 inches of water in as
little as 48 hours. Five people died and nearly every Oregon county received
a disaster declaration. Region-wide damage estimates exceeded one billion
dollars. Thousands were sheltered and hundreds of homes were destroyed. The
City of Portland erected a makeshift flood barrier to prevent flood waters
from moving into the downtown area.
For more in-depth information, including photographs, on the February
1996 floods as compiled by the Oregon Climate Service. Here are tons
of February 1996 flood
photos collected by the Marion County Emergency Management Teams.
Severe Thunderstorm of July 9, 1995 in north central
Oregon
A supercell thunderstorm that developed near Redmond traveled nearly 200 miles
before dissipating. It produced baseball sized hail in cities from Condon
to Hermiston. Nearly every vehicle in Hermiston was damaged by hail. The local
watermelon crop, on the verge of harvest, was a complete loss. The storm spawned
flash floods, damaging winds, and even a brief tornado. The National Weather
Service's new Doppler radar tracked the storm and allowed forecasters to provide
ample warning. There were no fatalities, but damages to crops, structures,
and property were in the tens of millions of dollars.
January 1950 Snowstorms
January 1950 was a very cold month statewide, with freqent snowstorms. For
the state as a whole, snow was the heaviest during this January than ever
before since the beginning of weather record keeping, which began in 1890.
For some areas, the heaviest one-day snowfall was reported during the first
few days of the month, while for others the heaviest one-day snowfall occurred
during the last few days. For most locations, the heaviest occurred during
the period of January 9 through the 18th. Actually, there were three storms,
but very little time separated them. Their net effect was a nearly continuous
storm. On the 13th, snow was accompanied by high winds, creating widespread
blowing and drifting of snow. Deep snow drifts closed all highways west of
the Cascades and through the Columbia River Gorge. A very severe sleet storm
began around noon on the 18th. Within hours sleet piled up to depths of 4
to 5 inches in northwestern Oregon. During the night of the 18th, the sleet
turned to freezing rain, and created much havoc on highways, trees, and power
lines. Hundreds of motorists were stranded in the Columbia River Gorge. The
stranded motorists had to be rescued by train, though even all rail traffic
had considerable difficulty and many delays in getting through the Gorge.
Freezing rain downed many trees and power lines, creating widespread power
outages across northwestern Oregon. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage
occurred.
Tornado of June 11, 1968 in Wallowa County
This storm struck in very mountainous, unihabited timbered area. Very few
persons witnessed the tornado, and those persons were in poor position to
actually observed the tornado. Determination as a tornado is based largely
on width of the path and appearance of wreckage it caused. Approximately 1800
acres of prime timber were destroyed, with an additional 1200 acres badly
damaged. An estimated 40 million board feet of lumber were blown down. The
storm lasted no more than 5 minutes at any observed point and was accompanied
briefly by golfball-sized hail. The storm occurred around 4 pm and had a ground
path of about eight to ten miles and nearly 2 miles wide.
Extreme Cold in February 1933
A cold outbreak brought a surge of Arctic air into the state. The city of
Seneca and in Ukiah, in northeast Oregon, both recorded the state's all-time record low temperature
of -54 degrees F. The next day it was nearly 100 degrees warmer when the high
reached 45 degrees.
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