High Wind — Southern Willamette Valley, Oregon

2014-12-11 · Southern Willamette Valley, Oregon

Event narrative

Sustained winds of 40 mph were reported at the Eugene Airport, but there were reports of at least 3 large trees downed. One of these trees fell on top of a SUV in Albany. The strong winds also resulted in numerous power outages in the Corvallis area.

Wider weather episode

A 974 millibar surface low moved northward paralleling the coast around 80 miles offshore, and resulted in one of the strongest wind storms that Northwest Oregon had experienced in past several of years. The strongest winds occurred as high pressure filled in behind the low. In this event, the Willamette Valley was just as susceptible to the strong winds as the coast and coast range were. Most of the injuries, property damage, and power outages occurred in the Willamette Valley, but broken and toppled trees were widespread from the coast to the base of the Cascade foothills.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 553045. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.