Oregon Chapter
American Meteorological Society

More than 300 attendees came to OMSI on Saturday, October 13th 2012 to hear regional meteorologists commemorate the great Columbus Day Storm of October 12th 1962. The Columbus Day Storm is the benchmark storm for which all other storms are compared to across the Pacific Northwest. This violent and deadly storm struck during the late afternoon of October 12th 1962 with winds gusting as high as 130 MPH in the Willamette Valley and 170 MPH along the Oregon coast. Nearly 50 people perished in the storm. The damage and destruction from this storm still perplexes the mind some fifty years later. This storm was not only the storm of the decade, but the storm of the century for the Pacific Northwest. There has yet to be another tempest that even comes close to the furor of the Columbus Day Storm. To this day the storm can best be summarized with words such as, "frightening," and "amazing" along with technical meteorological terms such as, "bomb" and "deep cyclogenesis.

The storm began in the western Pacific as the remnants of typhoon Freda. It was then entrained into the westerly jet stream and was carried eastward towards the west coast of the United States in the days leading up to October 12th. Keep in mind that in 1962 there were no weather satellites. Weather forecasters relied heavily on offshore ship reports, limited first generation weather buoys and land observations along the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington to warn of incoming storms that could pose a significant threat to the west coast. On the morning of Friday, October 12th, the storm was racing eastward along a fast jet stream aimed at northern California. As the storm dug deep into a trough of low pressure near the west coast, it was hurled around the base of the trough and directly north up the Oregon and Washington coastlines. During this time, the storm went through a technical phase known as "rapid cyclogenesis" as it began its drive directly northward along the coast. At one point the storms center was within 75 miles of the coast as it passed Astoria. At the very moment that the storm passed the same latitude as a given point such as Portland, an immense burst of wind followed the front that was associated with it. The late KGW weatherman Jack Capell was on top of the storm, warning residents that the storm was coming just hours before. Barometers across the Pacific Northwest were falling faster than they had in years and he knew something was about to happen.

As the front passed and the storm's center was directly west of Portland, it was ready to unleash its fury on the region. What made this event even more destructive was the fact that both upper and lower level winds were directly from the south which acted to enhance the wind in the Willamette Valley from Medford, Oregon north into southwest Washington. Imagine a funnel, with the sides of the funnel being the coast range and the Cascade mountains. These two geographical features aided in the increased wind speeds across western Oregon. For those who recall the Columbus Day Storm, it will forever be etched in their minds. At just after 5 PM the storm stuck Portland tearing off roofs, toppling trees and destroying buildings with the fury of nearly a Category 3 hurricane. Portland was plunged into darkness as trees still harboring their summer leaves added additional drag. As the storm raced north along the coast, winds spread into Washington State. The storm raged from Friday night into early Saturday morning before the pressure gradient finally relented. When it was all said and done, the Columbus Day Storm caused nearly $250 million in damage (in 1962 dollars) and fell an amazing 10 billion board feet of timber. The peak wind gusts that struck Oregon and Southwest Washington are simply staggering and have remained untouched for 50 years. These include, Newport 138 mph, Corvallis 127 mph, Morrison Street Bridge (downtown Portland) 116 mph, Troutdale 106 mph, Portland Airport 104 mph, Astoria 96 mph, Vancouver, Washington 92 mph, Salem 90 mph, Eugene 86 mph. It took weeks for residents of the Pacific Northwest to get back to normal everyday life as they struggled with removing trees from homes, restoring electricity, water, etc. It has now been 50 years since that fateful day back in 1962. This now begs the question, "could it happen again?

Below is a complete wrap up of the days events, including a video of the entire meeting. You can also download each forecasters presentation.

Steve Pierce, President of the Oregon Chapter of the AMS, opening presentation

Tyree Wilde, NOAA-National Weather Service Meteorologist, presented “How the storm formed and where it tracked” presentation

Jim Little, Oregon Department of Forestry Meteorologist, Salem, Oregon presented “Broadcast media coverage of the storm” presentation. Move clips: one, two, three, four, five

Jim talked about former meteorologist Jack Capell's detail post storm write-up.

George Miller, retired NOAA-National Weather Service Meteorologist and author presented “Columbus Day-Type Storms: Have They Occurred in the Past? Will They Occur Again?”presentation

Brian MacMillan presented a short video KPTV-12 Meteorologist presented “The damage, the survivor stories (video)” movie/video presentation

Wolf Read,Windstorm Expert / PhD Candidate presented “A climatological perspective – return cycles of powerful storms to strike the Pacific NW.” presentation

Forecasters answered questions from the audience.

RAFFLE WINNERS:

1. 3 Calendars:  Ben (no last name given), Sparky (she didn't want to give more info), Adam Altson

2.  2 OMSI tickets:  Mary Baumann & other unnamed  

3.  Wx Station and Calendar: Charlie Feris

Microsoft Powerpoint (.pps file extension) viewer download (click here)