High Wind — Central Willamette Valley Including Salem, Oregon

1998-11-23 · Central Willamette Valley Including Salem, Oregon

Wider weather episode

The second in a series of powerful pre-Thanksgiving storms brought high winds to the north Oregon coast again. In Clatsop county, Cannon Beach reported gusts to 65 mph, and in Lincoln county Newport had sustained winds 51 mph gusting to 71 mph and Sea Lion Caves reported 60 mph sustained winds with gusts to 73 mph. Numerous other reports of downed trees and power outages along the coast were received. This storm also caused high winds in the Willamette Valley, particularly in the Salem area. At 328 pm a gust to 68 mph was recorded by the National Weather Service at Salem airport. Gusts of 50 to 58 mph were reported in the Northern Willamette valley as well. Numerous reports of trees blown down were received, and a portion of the roof was blown off of the high school in Jefferson, 12 miles south of Salem. The Independence bridge near Salem was closed to traffic temporarily due to damage from a tree blown down in the wind. About 100000 customers were without power for part of the day, mostly in Marion county.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5673916. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.