The Columbus Day Storm of October 12, 1962
From the desk of Sean Lanksbury. PNW & Special Collections Librarian
Many Pacific Northwesterners recall the Columbus Day Storm of October 12, 1962 with the same vivid memories as we remember the Mount St. Helens eruptions of May 1980.
For those who were witness to the storm, it remains a terrifying testament to the destructive force of nature. The storm that began in the deep western Pacific as a typhoon named “Freda” was ignored at the time by many meteorologists and media forecasters, due to insufficient data and reporting, until reports of grim marine weather conditions rolled in the morning of the 12th.
The peak wind measurements remain untouched in this region. Speeds reached 160 mph in Naselle by the evening and were equally high elsewhere on the coast and inland. When it finally subsided the toll was staggering. This force of natural power claimed 46 lives and left millions without power across the region, from Ukiah, CA to Victoria, B.C.
The State Library commemorates the 50th Anniversary of this somber event by encouraging readers to learn more about Pacific Northwest Weather History and Forecasting with a newly created list of selected resources in the collection. The library also has numerous state and federal resources on disaster preparedness and emergency response available for public use. Please feel free to use the Ask-A-Librarian service for more information.
Note: for more images of the devastation, check out images housed at the State Archives, featured on From Our Corner, the Office of the Secretary of State blog.
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October 12th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
A milepost in our Pacific Northwest Boomer upbringing and truly horrific experience to us kids in the JFK era. Thank you for marking this event.
October 15th, 2012 at 4:40 pm
I grew up in Lewis County in southwest Washington. I was 8 years old in 1962. I remember the sound of the wind and I remember my parents getting the mattress off of their bed and putting it up against the picture window in our living room because they could see the glass bending inward from the force of the wind. We lived out in the country and didn’t have electricity for a week. I also remember driving around with my father and grandfather to see the storm damage — huge trees broken or pulled out of the ground. The holes left from the pulled-out roots filled with water and made small ponds. The roots were big circles high in the air (I was shorter then.)
April 6th, 2013 at 2:58 pm
I am interested in this as I own a company called hurricane and ran across this story. I have never seen a typhoon hit the west coast. We had a land hurricane hit this year with and have never seen anything like that before. I fear weather patterns we have not seen before will become much more commonplace.