The Columbus Day Storm of 1962 was an extratropical wave cyclone that ranked among the most intense to strike the United States Pacific Northwest since at least 1948, and probably since the January 9, 1880, "Great Gale" and snowstorm. On a larger scale, for the entire U.S., the Columbus Day Storm of 1962 is a contender for the "Biggest Extratropical Cyclone of the 20th Century." With respect to wind velocity, the Columbus Day Storm is unmatched even by the much-touted March 1993 "Storm of the Century" and the "perfect storm". Only Eastern hurricanes of Category 3 or higher have brought winds of the magnitude witnessed in Oregon on Columbus Day 1962. Radar image of a tropical cyclone in the northern hemisphere. ... Darker red states are always part of the Pacific Northwest. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Wind is the roughly horizontal movement of air (as opposed to an air current) caused by uneven heating of the Earths surface. ... 1Maximum snowfall or ice accretion The 1993 North American storm complex, also known as the ’93 Superstorm, the (Great) Blizzard of 1993, or the Storm of the Century, was a large cyclonic storm that occurred on March 12–March 15, 1993, on the East Coast of North America. ... A perfect storm is a situation where, by the confluence of specific events, what might have been a minor issue ends up being magnified to proportions that are out of control. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ... Columbus Day is a holiday celebrated in many countries in the Americas, commemorating the date of Christopher Columbuss arrival in the New World in 1492. ...

Wind speed highlights

At Oregon's Cape Blanco, an anemometer that lost one of its cups registered wind gusts in excess of 145 mph (233 km/h); some reports put the peak velocity at 179 mph (288 km/h). Official language(s) None Capital Salem Largest city Portland Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 9th 255,026 km² 420 km 580 km 2. ... Cape Blanco, Oregon Cape Blanco (42°50N 124°34W) is a prominent headland on the Pacific Ocean coast of southwestern Oregon in the United States, forming the westernmost point in the state. ... Anemometer installation on roof of Deconism Gallery, using three size 6, schedule 40 pipes in their original uncut 20 foot (6 m) lengths. ...

At the Mt. Hebo Radar Station in Oregon's Coast Range, the anemometer pegged at its maximum 130 mph (209 km/h) for long periods - likely at the level of a Category 4 hurricane; damage to the radar dome suggested wind gusts to at least 170 mph (270 km/h). Dome tiles were thrown down the mountainside; the 200 lb (45 kg) chunks tore through entire trees.

At the Naselle Radar Station in the Willapa Hills of southwest Washington, a wind gust of 160 mph (257 km/h) was observed.

At Corvallis, Oregon, an inland location in Willamette Valley, 1-minute average winds reached 69 mph (111 km/h), with a gust to 127 mph (204 km/h), before the anemometer was destroyed and the observation tower began flying apart, forcing the abandonment of the station. Benton County Courthouse Corvallis (IPA: ) is a city located in central western Oregon, USA. Originally called Marysville, (probably for the nearby Marys River), the legislative assembly changed the citys name to Corvallis in 1853, from the Latin phrase cor vallis, meaning heart of the valley. ... The Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley is the region in northwest Oregon in the United States that surrounds the Willamette River as it proceeds northward from its emergence from mountains near Eugene to its confluence with the Columbia River. ...

Ninety miles (145 km) to the north, at Portland, Oregon's major metropolitan area, measured wind gusts reached 116 mph (187 km/h) at the Morrison Street Bridge. Nickname: City of Roses, Stumptown, Bridgetown Official website: http://www. ...

Many anemometers, official and unofficial, within the heavily stricken area of northwestern Oregon and southwestern Washington were destroyed before winds attained maximum velocity. Official language(s) None Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 18th 184,824 km² 385 km 580 km 6. ...

For the Willamette Valley, the lowest peak gust officially measured was 86 mph at Eugene. This value, however, is higher than the maximum peak gust generated by any other Willamette Valley windstorm in the 1948–2003 period. The Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley is the region in northwest Oregon in the United States that surrounds the Willamette River as it proceeds northward from its emergence from mountains near Eugene to its confluence with the Columbia River. ... Eugene is the third largest city [1] and boasts the second largest metropolitan population [2] in the state of Oregon, and is also the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, USA. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie River and...

In the interior of western Washington, officially measured wind gusts included 78 mph at Olympia, 88 mph (138 km/h) at McChord Air Force Base, 100 mph (160 km/h) at Renton at 64 feet (20 m) and 98 mph (158 km/h) at Bellingham. In the city of Seattle, a peak fastest mile of 65 mph (105 km/h) was recorded; this suggests gusts of at least 80 mph (129 km/h). Damaging winds reached as far inland as Spokane. State Capitol and waterfront, Olympia, Washington. ... McChord AFB is a United States Air Force base in Pierce County, Washington. ... Nickname: Renton, Ahead of the Curve Motto: Official website: http://ci. ... Bellingham is the county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. ... City nickname Emerald City City bird Great Blue Heron City flower Dahlia City mottos The City of Flowers The City of Goodwill City song Seattle, the Peerless City Mayor Greg Nickels County King County Area   - Total   - Land   - Water   - % water 369. ... Spokane (pronounced spō-CAN ) is the county seat of Spokane County in the State of Washington, USA. It was originally incorporated as Spokan Falls (without an e at the end), drawing on the Spokan Native American group of that name, which means Children of the Sun. ...

Wind gusts of 58 mph (93 km/h), the National Weather Service minimum for "High Wind Criteria," or higher were reported from San Francisco, California, to Vancouver, British Columbia. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 3rd 158,302 sq mi  410,000 km² 250 miles  402. ... Vancouver (pronounced ) is a Canadian city in the province of British Columbia. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages none stated in law; English is de facto Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 5th 944,735...

Download high resolution version (508x625, 114 KB)I created this image, which shows storm peak-gusts at many official stations in CA, OR and WA. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Damage Highlights

In less than 12 hours, over 11 billion board feet (26,000,000 m³) of timber was blown down in northern California, Oregon and Washington combined; some estimates put it at 15 billion board feet (35,000,000 m³). This exceeded the annual timber harvest for Oregon and Washington at the time. This value is above any blowdown measured for East Coast storms, including hurricanes: even the often-cited New England hurricane of 1938, which toppled 2.65 billion board feet (6,000,000 m³), falls short by nearly an order of magnitude.

Estimates put the dollar damage around $230 million to $280 million for California, Oregon and Washington combined, with nearly $200 million occurring in Oregon alone. These figures, in 1962 dollars, are comparable to land-falling hurricanes that occurred within the same timeframe (say 1957 to 1961, Audrey, Donna, Carla). The dollar damage adjusted to 2002 for inflation and population/property increase suggest a $3 to $5 billion storm, if not more.

In the Willamette Valley, it is said that the undamaged home was the exception, with the damaged house being the rule. Also, many barns and other farm structures were destroyed by the storm; so many, in fact, that it is a safe bet to surmise that any Valley barn encountered today was built after October of 1962. Livestock suffered greatly to the barn failures: the animals were crushed under the weight of the collapsed structures, a story that was sadly repeated many times throughout the afflicted region. At the north end of the Valley, two 500-foot-high (150 m) voltage transmission towers were toppled, as well as a radio tower in Portland's West Hills. Sheep are commonly bred as livestock. ... West Hills can refer to several places in the United States: West Hills in New York, West Hills in Pennsylvania. ...

For northwest Oregon, literally the entire power distribution system had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Some locations did not have power restored for several weeks. This storm became a lasting memory for local power distributors; indeed, a number of high-wind-related studies appeared in the years after the storm in attempt to assess the return frequency of such potentially damaging winds.

The effects of the Columbus Day storm are still present now. For example, many of the unimproved backcountry roads used by today's hunters, recreationists and loggers were put in during an intense timber salvage effort aimed at recovering some of the billions of board feet toppled by the gale. Also, the heavy-duty design of the radio towers on Portland's West Hills, with extensive and robust guy cables, is a direct result of the lessons learned by the 1962 catastrophe.

These are but a few details. The accounting of destruction wrought by this storm can not be easily summarized.

The human dimension

At least 46 fatalities were attributed to this storm, more than for any other Pacific Northwest wind event. Injuries went into the hundreds. In terms of storm-related fatalities for the 20th century, only Oregon's Heppner flood of 1903 (200 deaths) and Washington's great avalanche of 1910 (96 deaths) caused more. For Pacific Northwest windstorms in the 20th century, the runner up was the infamous October 21, 1934, gale, which caused 22 fatalities, mostly in Washington. Injury is damage or harm caused to the structure or function of the body caused by an outside agent or force, which may be physical or chemical. ... October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 71 days remaining. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The level of emergency caused by this storm exceeds that of any other Pacific Northwest event in memory. When queried, locals who experienced the storm nearly unanimously tell an account that is both interesting and frightening. The memory is vivid even four decades after the storm. For many, the response was to seek shelter immediately, move away from windows and go into interior rooms or basements. Few storms in the Pacific Northwest invoke such a strong response. Look up Emergency in Wiktionary, the free dictionary An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate threat to human life or serious damage to property. ...

Some meteorological details

The low developed explosively off of Northern California when the degraded remains of typhoon Freda encountered a storm formation region that had spun up an intense cyclone the day before. The new (Columbus Day) low first moved northeastward, and then hooked straight north as it neared southwest Oregon. The storm then raced nearly northward at an average speed of 40 mph (64 km/h) or greater, with the center just 50 miles (80 km) off of the Pacific Coast. There was little central pressure change until the cyclone passed the latitude of Astoria, at which time the low began to degrade. The center literally passed over Tatoosh Island, Washington, before landing on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where it weakened rapidly. This article is about weather phenomena. ... Astoria can mean: Cities, villages, and towns in the United States (listed in order of population) Astoria, Queens, formerly an independent town, now part of Queens in New York City The city of Astoria, Oregon The village of Astoria, Illinois The town of Astoria, South Dakota Famous Places The London... Vancouver Island is separated from mainland British Columbia by the Strait of Georgia and the Queen Charlotte Strait, and from Washington by the Juan De Fuca Strait. ...

2) The extratropical wave cyclone deepened to a minimum central pressure of at least 960 hPa (28.35 inHg), and perhaps as low as 958 hPa (28.30 inHg), which would be equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. All-time record-low land-based pressures (up to 1962) included 969.2 hPa (28.62 inHg) at Astoria, Oregon, 970.5 hPa (28.66 inHg) at Hoquiam, Washington, and 971.9 hPa (28.70 inHg) at North Bend, Oregon. The Astoria and Hoquiam records were broken by a major storm on December 12, 1995 (966.1 hPa at Astoria)—this event, however, did not generate winds as intense as the Columbus Day storm of 1962. Pressure (symbol: p) is the force per unit area acting on a surface in a direction perpendicular to that surface. ... The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a scale classifying most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the levels of tropical depression and tropical storm and thereby become hurricanes. ... Hoquiam is a city located in Grays Harbor County, Washington. ... December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 19 days remaining. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Windstorms Brochure (PDF) from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Portland, Oregon

http://oregonstate.edu/~readw/October1962.html Website with extensive analysis of every major Pacific Northwest windstorm of the 20th and 21st Century, with a special section on the Columbus Day Storm.