In detail in the storm data section, and simply the storm's incredible peak The center of the Columbus Day cyclone stayed offshore, as will be discussed ThereĪre other reasons for a unique place in Pacific Northwest climatology, suchĪs pressure tendencies that mirrored fast-moving landfalling systems while On the East Coast, such as post-landfall hurricane Hazel of 1954. Whose closest cousins may be those powerful extratropical storms experienced That the storm of 1962 be placed in its own category. Of violence achieved during the Big Blow. The abundantĮnergy that arrived with the tropical system may partly explain the level Of Freda in 1962 have been spun into a terrific wave cyclone. Typhoons have arrived on the Pacific Coast on many occasions since 1950,īut few have come ashore as strong storms, and none but the ghostly remains Time in the period of climatological record. Windstorms, for, as far as is known, this has not happened at any other The extratropical cyclone origin gives the event a unique place among Northwest Zone off of northern California and regenerated the ailing cyclone. The Columbus Day Storm was born explosively when the highly degradedĮxtratropical remains of typhoon Freda drifted into a powerful storm formation The event of the millennium, though such inferences are speculative Plus trees blown down suggests that the Columbus Day Storm may have been In sheer gustiness of wind,Īs indicated by the ratio of maximum gust speed to sustained wind speed,Ĭalled the gust factor, the Columbus Day Storm behaved more like a hurricane In terms of timber loss, about 11.2 billion board feet was felled by theīig Blow in Oregon and Washington combined. The worst natural disaster of 1962 by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. This damage figure is comparable to eastern hurricanes that made $230-280 million in damage to property in California, Oregon, WashingtonĪnd British Columbia combined, with $170-200 million happening in OregonĪlone. In 1962 dollars, the Columbus Day Storm caused an estimated Throughout the Willamette Valley, undamaged homes were the exception, not A more typical windstorm might notĮven harm this many houses within the entire range of its influence. Had about 4,000 houses within its borders in 1962-the Columbus Day Stormĭamaged 70% of these structures. For example, the northwest Oregon town of Lake Oswego In their homes or basements, a lasting memory, and the sheer magnitude ofĭestruction, in literally all categories of accounting, puts this stormįar above any other. The sudden violence of the wind compelled many people to take cover Reasons why those who lived through the Columbus Day Storm remember it so Has generated as much widespread devastation as the Big Blow, not even close.Ĭomparisons of peak gusts, where they can be had, tend to put the Big BlowĪt the top, but such figures are abstract, and often don't reveal the very The Pacific Northwest in the 20th century. Click on the map to see a larger version.Ĭan be stated that the Columbus Day Storm of 1962 was the most powerful windstorm The track of the extratropical cyclone center is shown (yellow arrow). Isotachs depicting ≥60 mph (~100 km/h) to ≥120 mph (~190 km/h) gusts in 20 mph (~30 km/h) increments are included to highlight the regions that had concentrations of the indicated magnitudes. Stations with high-wind criteria gusts (58 mph or 93 km/h) are denoted with white-filled circles. Values in italics are gust values estimated from peak wind, usually 1-minute or 5-minute, using a 1.3 gust factor. Numbers preceded by a tilde (~) represent the highest gust report in a dataset that has been interrupted at the height of the storm-usually data loss is from power outages. Stations with long histories are preferred because of the research focus on intercomparison of historic storms. Wind speeds are largely from long-term surface airways weather observation sites, data buoys, lighthouses and C-MAN stations, with limited data from other networks (e.g. 1962 Columbus Day Storm AKA Terrible Tempest of the 12thįigure above Peak gusts (mph and km/h) for the Octowindstorm.
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