Sisters figures in top 2014 weather stories

Eight staff members of the National Weather Service in Pendleton voted on the 10 most important local weather events of 2014. The No. 1 weather story was the December 11 extreme wind which brought hurricane force wind gusts and widespread damage.

A summary of 2014's top 10 local weather follows:

10. October warmth: Summer-like weather continued into October. Monument, Kennewick, and Walla Walla had the warmest October on record. Top 5 warm Octobers were recorded at Yakima, Whitman Mission, Trout Lake, The Dalles, Pendleton, Long Creek, Heppner, Condon, Goldendale, Moro, La Grande, Bend, Sisters, Pelton Dam, Meacham, Madras and Redmond.

9. Dry water year: From October 2013 to September 2014, Kennewick had the driest water year, receiving only 3.81 inches. The previous record was 3.92 set in the 1963-64 water year. Walla Walla had their fourth driest water year and Redmond's water year was 10th driest.

8. Wildfires: Dry thunderstorms and dry vegetation led to numerous wildfires across the Inland Northwest during July and August. In the NWS Pendleton Fire Weather service area, there were 456,000 acres burned in 2014, compared to 135,000 in 2013 and 182,000 in 2012.

7. Damaging winds, January 11-12: Wind gusts of 60-90 mph led to trees down, power outages, and roof damage. A semi-truck was blown off the road near West Richland.

6. Severe thunderstorms August 12-14: Thunderstorms with heavy rainfall, damaging winds, and blowing dust hit many areas of the Inland Northwest. Hail up to golfball size fell southeast of Meacham. Over an inch of rain in an hour or less was reported southeast of Cliffdell, in Bickleton, east of Ellensburg, and west of Hermiston. A mudslide occurred on Highway 12, five miles east of Rimrock Tunnel. Wind gusts to 68 mph were reported on the Hanford Reservation and a tree was uprooted northwest of Pendleton.

5. Record November cold: Arctic air became entrenched the second week of November. Many locations did not reach above freezing for over a week. After the snow fell and the skies cleared, temperatures plummeted even further. Several sites had one of their coldest all-time November mornings on record November 15 and 16. Meacham and Sisters recorded their coldest average temperature for any November.

4. Mid-November snow: Early season snow was heavy in a several locations such as The Dalles, La Grande, Cove, Heppner, Wallowa, Maupin, White Salmon, Seneca, Spray, Terrebonne, Pendleton, Prineville, Sisters and Redmond. The heavy snow caused a roof collapse at a wood products mill in Prineville.

2. (Tie) Hot July: It was the hottest on record at Bend, Condon, Whitman Mission and Yakima. A top-five hot July was recorded at Prineville, Bickleton, Goldendale, Heppner, Long Creek, Sisters, Trout Lake, Moro, Pelton Dam, Pendleton, Kennewick, The Dalles and Walla Walla.

2. (Tie) Heavy snow February 6-9: Heavy snow fell in most areas with 1-2 feet accumulating in Sisters, Condon, Camp Sherman, WNW Bend, WSW The Dalles, Bickleton, Echo, Naches and La Grande.

Three fatalities were associated with the heavy snow. An elderly couple died while stranded in the cold and snow in Crossroads outside Sisters, and a man died while shoveling snow in Bend. Rain occurred during the snow melt a few days later with minor flooding across Deschutes, Jefferson, Crook and Wheeler counties.

1. December wind: A deep low-pressure system moving north, just off the Oregon and Washington coast, brought widespread wind gusts over 60 mph which caused tree and building damage, power outages, and vehicular accidents. Wind gusts at least 80 mph were reported at Condon, Pikes Peak, Cayuse, southeast of Dixie, south of Ione, WNW of Ruggs and NW Heppner.