Thunderstorm Wind — Adams, Washington

2013-08-25 · near Othello Arpt, Adams, Washington

Event narrative

Several trees and power lines were knocked down from strong thunderstorm winds across east and southeastern sections of Othello. Reports from the utility company included: power lines down from a fallen tree two miles southeast of Othello, a downed power pole six miles southeast of Othello, and another power pole downed six miles southeast of Warden. A newspaper also reported at least eight large trees blown down in the town of Lind. The downed trees resulted in damage to fences and power lines.

Wider weather episode

A stationary trough of low pressure along the Pacific Northwest Coastline resulted in moist, unstable, southwesterly flow over the Inland Northwest. A shortwave embedded within the flow, triggered thunderstorms during the afternoon hours of August 25, 2013. The storms originated in the Lower Columbia Basin and quickly moved through the Basin and into the northern mountain regions of Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. A strong squall line emerged from this activity which created damaging winds resulting in a dust storm and numerous downed trees and power lines. There was one fatality and one injury at campground from a large tree falling on a tent. Several other areas experienced property damage.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (46.7489, -119.1000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 464230. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.