High Wind — Jackson County, Oregon

2014-12-10 to 2014-12-11 · Jackson County, Oregon

Event narrative

Sensor DW6803 at Science Works in Ashland recorded sporadic high wind gusts during this interval, with a peak gust of 74 mph recorded at 11/0303 PST and a sustained wind of 15 mph. The data from this source is suspect, but there were numerous reports of wind damage on this morning from around Jackson County, and there was one fatality when a tree fell on a camper's tent. The Medford Mail Tribune reported that the roof was blown off of one Medford business and a smaller building collapsed. A city-owned barn in Ashland lost part of its roof. Numerous power lines were down and there were power failures affecting 16000 people. Dozens of trees were felled, some of them falling on cars. In rural Jackson county, a tree fell on a power line which in turn fell on a house, setting it on fire. The structure was destroyed.

Wider weather episode

An incoming front on 12/10/14 brought strong winds to many parts of southern Oregon and northern California. A rapidly developing low pressure system behind the first front brought another round of high winds on 12/11/14. Both of these events were covered by a long duration High Wind Warning.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 545118. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.