Oregon high wind and dust storms
Every recorded high wind record since 1996 · 36 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 3,172 high wind and dust records in Oregon from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 107 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the September 25, 1999 high wind: 8 deaths, 33 injuries and $1.8 million in damage in 2025 dollars across 2 records. Oregon ranks 15th of 52 states and territories by count and 32nd of 51 per square mile.
High wind and dust storms in Oregon, 1996 to 2026
Wind records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 3,1721996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 107average
- Deaths
- 3973 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $4.1Bas filed
- Busiest year
- 2006303 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are high wind and dust records common in Oregon?
Oregon averages about 107 high wind and dust records a year since 2000, 15th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2006 (303). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Oregon records 330 high wind and dust records since 1996, 32nd of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Oregon have the most high wind and dust records?
Per square mile, Clatsop County leads Oregon: 377 days with a high wind record since 1996, 455.2 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Curry County has the most wind records (981 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is the windy season in Oregon?
44% of its high wind and dust records since 1996 fell in December and January. The busiest month is December (829 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 551 · Feb 420 · Mar 385 · Apr 145 · May 44 · Jun 22 · Jul 6 · Aug 14 · Sep 58 · Oct 199 · Nov 499 · Dec 829 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest high wind and dust records in Oregon?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-09-25 | High WindFoothills Of The Blue Mountains · forecast zone Foothills Of The Blue Mountains One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong Pacific cold front associated with a deep low pressure system north of Washington State brought strong winds over Oregon and Washington during the morning and early afternoon. These high winds raised clouds of dust over the Columbia basin, reducing visibilities to less than a quarter mile over Umatilla and ... | 8 | 33 | $1.8M | |
| 2020-09-07 | High WindClackamas County and 2 more · forecast zone North Oregon Cascades Foothills One storm episode: 8 records in 6 places, 2020-09-07 to 2020-09-08; the totals are the episode's. After a period of upper level ridging brought a return to above normal temperatures in early September, very strong easterly downslope and offshore winds off the Cascades and Coastal Ranges occurred. Winds increased rapidly during the afternoon and evening of September 7 with the passage of an unseasonably strong ... | 61 kt wind | 5 | 0 | $3.9B |
| 2022-12-27 | High WindClatsop County and 4 more · forecast zone Coast Range Of Nw Oregon One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. High Winds. A strong frontal system probably. South winds probably. | 51 kt wind | 4 | 2 | $6.1M |
| 2017-04-07 | High WindClackamas County and 2 more · forecast zone Greater Portland Metro Area One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong low pressure system moves northeasterly up the Oregon and Washington coast, creating a strong pressure gradient across the area. This brought strong winds to all of northwest Oregon, bringing down many trees across the area. One fatalitly occurred due to a fallen tree branch, and another fatality was due to ... | 66 kt wind | 2 | 3 | $84K |
| 2002-12-15 | High WindCrook County and Deschutes County · forecast zone Central Oregon A 57 foot tall Ponderosa pine tree was blown down by the wind onto a mobile home in Bend, killing two people in their sleep. Two additional homes and a motor vehicle were also damaged by the winds. Over 1,500 customers were left without power due to high winds blowing trees onto power lines and poles themselves being ... | 61 kt wind | 2 | 0 | – |
| 2016-03-09 | High WindClatsop County and Tillamook County · forecast zone Northern Oregon Coast One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A deep low pressure system moved along the Northern Oregon coast and produced strong winds across the region. The winds took down trees and power lines that obstructed traffic and resulted in one fatality. | 69 kt wind | 2 | 0 | $12K |
| 2014-12-11 | High WindClackamas County and 2 more · forecast zone Greater Portland Metro Area Gusty strong winds resulted in several downed trees for the Portland Metro Area. There were widespread road closures and power outages due to the downed trees. One fatality and one injury resulted from a tree falling onto a moving car. The Portland International Airport experienced re routing and delays of aircraft, ... | 58 kt wind | 1 | 2 | $100K |
| 2006-01-01 | High WindClatsop County and 4 more · forecast zone Coast Range Of Nw Oregon A strong low pressure system moving northward just off the Oregon Coast caused high winds. Clatsop Spit recorded sustained winds of 48 mph with a gust to 64 mph; Garibaldi had 46 gusting to 58 mph; Yaquina Bay bridge reported 43 gusting to 55 mph; and Sea Lion Cave had a gust to 59 mph. Numerous reports of downed ... | 50 kt wind | 1 | 1 | – |
| 2014-12-10 | High WindJackson County · forecast zone Jackson County 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 ... | 64 kt wind | 1 | 0 | $249K |
| 2012-11-18 | High WindClatsop County and 4 more · forecast zone Coast Range Of Nw Oregon One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong pacific frontal system brought high winds to the Coast and coast range of Northwest Oregon. | 56 kt wind | 1 | 0 | $1.6M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest high wind and dust records in Oregon
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-09-07 | High WindClackamas County and 2 more · forecast zone North Oregon Cascades Foothills One storm episode: 8 records in 6 places, 2020-09-07 to 2020-09-08; the totals are the episode's. | 61 kt wind | 5 | 0 | $3.9B |
| 2007-12-02 | High WindClatsop County and Tillamook County · forecast zone Northern Oregon Coast One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 112 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $119M |
| 2013-09-22 | Strong WindClackamas County and 2 more · forecast zone Greater Portland Metro Area | 30 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $10M |
| 2002-02-07 | High WindBenton County and 2 more · forecast zone Southern Willamette Valley | 61 kt wind | 0 | 4 | $9.8M |
| 2016-10-13 | Strong WindClackamas County and 3 more · forecast zone Central Willamette Valley | 42 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $6.1M |
| 2022-12-27 | High WindClatsop County and 4 more · forecast zone Coast Range Of Nw Oregon One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. | 51 kt wind | 4 | 2 | $6.1M |
| 2008-01-04 | High WindMorrow County and Umatilla County · forecast zone Foothills Of The Blue Mountains | 63 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $2.3M |
| 1999-09-25 | High WindFoothills Of The Blue Mountains · forecast zone Foothills Of The Blue Mountains One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 8 | 33 | $1.8M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are high wind and dust records becoming more frequent in Oregon?
Oregon's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Oregon | United States | Oregon's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 396 | 14,026 | 2.8% |
| 2000s | 1,311 | 37,254 | 3.5% |
| 2010s | 1,030 | 41,748 | 2.5% |
| 2020-26 | 435 | 36,300 | 1.2% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent high wind and dust records in Oregon
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-22 | High WindUmatilla County · forecast zone Foothills Of The Northern Blue Mountains Of Oregon | 51 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-03-11 | High WindSherman County and Wasco County · forecast zone North Central Oregon | 54 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-02-21 | High WindCurry County · forecast zone Curry County Coast | 57 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-12-18 | High WindLake County · forecast zone Central & Eastern Lake County | 59 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-12-17 | High WindBaker County · forecast zone Baker | 74 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-11-05 | High WindLane County and 3 more · forecast zone Central Oregon Coast Range | 73 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-11-05 | High WindLincoln County and Lane County · forecast zone Central Coast Of Oregon | 55 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-11-05 | High WindTillamook County · forecast zone Tillamook County Coast | 69 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-11-05 | High WindClatsop County · forecast zone Clatsop County Coast | 57 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-11-04 | High WindCurry County · forecast zone Curry County Coast | 55 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-10-25 | High WindLane County and 3 more · forecast zone Central Oregon Coast Range | 56 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2025-10-25 | High WindLincoln County and Lane County · forecast zone Central Coast Of Oregon | 65 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Next
- Clatsop County: the county's whole recordThe Oregon county with the most high wind and dust records per square mile
- High wind and dust storms across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in OregonTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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