Intense thunderstorm dumps hail, heavy rain across northern Bend

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A slow-moving thunderstorm cell crawled its way over the north end of Bend late Wednesday afternoon, dumping up to an hour of torrential rain and hail that flooded streets, stripped leaves off trees and flattened bushes while dropping dime- to quarter-sized hail and sending small rivers of bark mulch or dirt flowing from yards.

Shirley Moody said the "crazy hailstorm" destroyed garden and flower pots, leaving standing water and ice in the street. It also brought some outflow winds that toppled some large elm tree limbs onto a parked car in Bend's Old Town

The storm did, however, provide a temporary respite from recent warm weather that is due to soar into potentially record-breaking over-100 temperatures for several days, starting this weekend.

Bend Airport recorded 93 degrees at 4:15 p.m. and had dropped to 68 by 6:35, plunging 25 degrees as the storm moved north at about 10 mph, according to forecasters, but seemed to be parked in one spot. Some residents of southern Bend said they didn't get a drop of moisture.

While a red flag warning was set to expire at 11 p.m. Wednesday, an excessive heat watch is due to begin Friday afternoon for most of Central and Eastern Oregon and extend until next Wednesday evening, bringing "dangerously hot conditions" and temperatures of 105 to 111 degrees possible in places, National Weather Service forecasters in Pendleton said.

"There is some possibility that all-time record high temperatures will be reached or exceeded during this heat wave," the NWS advised.