Texas, 1997

Tornado and Flash Flooding in Texas, June 9, 1997

June 9, 1997 · NWS AMA · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms over the eastern Texas Panhandle produced flash flooding along with damaging hail and an isolated tornado.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
$250,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AMA wrote it up.

Severe thunderstorms over the eastern Texas Panhandle produced flash flooding along with damaging hail and an isolated tornado.

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 147 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood, 2 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Hemphill

When
June 9, 2:05 PM CST
Where
Hemphill County, 8 mi S of Canadian
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates
35.838, -100.270 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Van and truck washed off road after hitting 3 feet of water at junction of Highways 83 and 60. One female injured.

Tornado, Carson

When
June 9, 2:25 PM CST to 2:27 PM CST
Where
Carson County, 15 mi SW of White Deer
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Coordinates
35.280, -101.370

Brief touchdown over open country. Tornado track was estimated.

Flash Flood, Lipscomb

When
June 9, 3:14 PM CST
Where
Lipscomb County, Booker
Coordinates
36.278, -100.273 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Highway 23 north of Booker closed with one foot of water over roadway.

Hail, Donley

When
June 9, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Donley County, Lelia Lake
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
34.900, -100.780

Hail, Wheeler

When
June 9, 5:15 PM CST
Where
Wheeler County, Shamrock
Measured
4.5 in hail
Property damage
$250,000
Coordinates
35.220, -100.250

Numerous reports of golfball to baseball size hail in Shamrock and there was extensive damage.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 1997Warnings in Texas, June 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5611242, 5611243, 5611296, 5611297, 5611298.