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Windstorm
Windstorm Summary
Morrow County has experienced great loss of life as the result of a severe thunderstorm that occurred on June 14, 1903. Called the Heppner Flood, it was the worst flood caused by a severe thunderstorm, in terms of loss of life, ever to occur in Oregon. Typically the greatest damage caused by severe windstorms, thunderstorms and tornadoes in Morrow County are damages to structures of light construction such as manufactured homes, road blockages and other damage due to downed trees, flooding in low areas, and blowing debris.
Impacts of Windstorm in Morrow County
Morrow County is subject to often intense gusts of high winds and windstorms. Although they are not usually life-threatening, high winds can disrupt daily activities, cause damage to buildings and structures, and increase the potential of other hazards. Some areas with little or no ground cover such as open agricultural fields experience blinding gusts of dust and road debris, including tumbleweeds, which become a hazard for travelers and an occasional disruption of local services. High winds sometimes cause severe transportation disruptions due to localized roadways blocked with debris, downed trees over roadways, and low areas completely filled with windblown tumbleweeds. Wildfires can be accelerated and made unpredictable by windstorms, which can cause grave danger to firefighters, emergency response personnel and residences, or other structures that happen to be in the path of a wayward wildfire. Effects of the windstorms may be seen in damage to agricultural systems such as circle irrigation units, to structures such as roof damage and cracked windows, and damage to trees and landscaping. Power outages due to downed or damaged power supply lines have the potential to disrupt emergency response during and after a destructive windstorm.
Windstorm History and Location in Morrow County
Severe weather in the form of wind storms is part of the history of the region from the 1903 flash flood tragedy in Heppner to the 1999 dust storm which caused a multiple automobile crash on September 25, 1999, in Umatilla County on Interstate 84 east of Morrow County. Morrow County has experienced tornadoes, as reported in The Oregon Weather Book, A State of Extremes:
"In Morrow County the same day a tornado formed on the McElligott Ranch property southwest of Ione and traveled eastwards 20 miles before disappearing on the outskirts of Lexington. The twister was accompanied by heavy rains and hail, some of which, near Heppner, was golf ball size. Two ranches near Lexington measured half an inch of rain in less than 10 minutes and in Sand Hollow, another rancher reported 1.20 inches in less than 30 minutes. The tornado passed over rangeland, dairyland, and wheat farms and caused no structural damage."
Tornadoes occur in Morrow County more frequently than many people realize and the severe weather that accompanies them strikes at the road system in the form of flooding, the agricultural areas in the form of damaged crops, barns, buildings, and irrigation systems, and the residential areas with downed trees, roof damage and windblown debris. The storm event of May 19, 2006, had a reported funnel cloud in the Boardman area that was causing the National Weather Service to issue a tornado warning that afternoon.
