The Columbus Day storm of 1962 remains the most powerful windstorm to ever hit the Pacific Northwest, causing widespread devastation across the region.
The storm struck on October 12, 1962, leaving a trail of destruction from Northern California to British Columbia, with the strongest impacts felt in Oregon and Washington.
This historic storm was fueled by the remnants of Typhoon Freda, which merged with a midlatitude system to create an extraordinarily intense low-pressure system.
The resulting windstorm brought hurricane-force winds, with gusts exceeding 100 mph in many areas. In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, wind gusts reached up to 116 mph, while the Seattle-Tacoma area experienced gusts as high as 98 mph.
The damage was catastrophic.
Across the Pacific Northwest, more than 15 billion board feet of timber were toppled, equivalent to a year’s worth of logging at the time. Entire forests were flattened, and urban areas saw widespread destruction of homes, buildings, and infrastructure.