Columbus Day Storm of 1962 - Wind Speed Highlights

Wind Speed Highlights

The peak winds were felt as the storm passed close by on October 12. At Oregon's Cape Blanco, an anemometer that lost one of its cups registered wind gusts in excess of 145 miles per hour (233 km/h); some reports put the peak velocity at 179 miles per hour (288 km/h).

At the Mount Hebo Air Force Station in the Oregon Coast Range, the anemometer pegged at its maximum 130 miles per hour (210 km/h) for long periods — the level of a Category 3 hurricane; damage to the radar domes suggested wind gusts to at least 170 miles per hour (270 km/h). Dome tiles were thrown down the mountainside; the 200-pound (91 kg) chunks tore through entire trees.

At the Naselle Radar Station in the Willapa Hills of southwest Washington, a wind gust of 160 miles per hour (260 km/h) was observed.

In Salem, Oregon, a wind gust of 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) was observed.

At Corvallis, Oregon, an inland location in the Willamette Valley, one-minute average winds reached 69 miles per hour (111 km/h), with a gust to 127 miles per hour (204 km/h), before the anemometer was destroyed and the observation tower began flying apart, forcing the abandonment of the station.

About 56 miles (90 km) to the north, at Portland, Oregon's major metropolitan area, measured wind gusts reached 116 miles per hour (187 km/h) at the Morrison Street Bridge.

Many anemometers, official and unofficial, within the heavily stricken area of northwestern Oregon and southwest Washington were destroyed before winds attained maximum velocity. For example, the wind gauge atop the downtown Portland studios of KGW radio and TV recorded two gusts of 93 miles per hour (150 km/h), just before flying debris knocked the gauge off-line at about 5 p.m.

For the Willamette Valley, the lowest peak gust officially measured was 86 miles per hour (138 km/h) at Eugene. This value, however, is higher than the maximum peak gust generated by any other Willamette Valley windstorm in the 1948–2010 period.

In the interior of western Washington, officially measured wind gusts included 78 miles per hour (126 km/h) at Olympia, 88 miles per hour (142 km/h) at McChord Air Force Base, 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) at Renton at 64 feet (20 m) and 98 miles per hour (158 km/h) at Bellingham. In the city of Seattle, a peak fastest mile of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) was recorded; this suggests gusts of at least 80 miles per hour (130 km/h). Damaging winds reached as far inland as Spokane.

Wind gusts of 58 miles per hour (93 km/h), the National Weather Service minimum for "High Wind Criteria," or higher were reported from San Francisco, to Vancouver, British Columbia.