Heavy Snow in Texas, December 25 to 27, 2000

Name: Heavy Snow in Texas, December 25 to 27, 2000
Start: 2000-12-25T18:00
End: 2000-12-27T06:00
Location: Texas

December 25 to 27, 2000 · NWS AMA · 20 events in 20 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 20 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: 2
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $40,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 20

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.

A strong storm system in the upper atmosphere moved from the four corners region into southwestern New Mexico and then moved slowly into west Texas producing heavy snowfall across all of the Texas panhandle. Snowfall amounts ranged from six to eight inches across the extreme northern and western Texas panhandle to between ten and twenty inches extending from the southwest Texas panhandle northeastward across the central sections and then to the northeast Texas panhandle. Numerous accidents with injuries were reported due to the heavy snow and more than two hundred vehicles became stranded along U.S. Highway 287 between Amarillo and Dumas. The Amarillo International Airport was closed due to the heavy snow and several roads and highways were also closed.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

20 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Armstrong

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Armstrong forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.965, -101.357 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Carson

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Carson forecast zone
Property damage: $40,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.404, -101.354 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Approximately thirty inches of snow collapsed the roof of a barn on a farm located ten miles northwest of Panhandle in Carson county.

Heavy Snow, Collingsworth

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Collingsworth forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.965, -100.270 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Dallam

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Dallam forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.278, -102.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Deaf Smith

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Deaf Smith forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.966, -102.605 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Donley

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Donley forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.965, -100.814 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Gray

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Gray forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.401, -100.813 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hansford

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Hansford forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.278, -101.354 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hartley

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Hartley forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.840, -102.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hemphill

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Hemphill forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.838, -100.270 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hutchinson

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Hutchinson forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.840, -101.355 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lipscomb

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Lipscomb forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.278, -100.273 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Moore

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Moore forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.838, -101.893 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ochiltree

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Ochiltree forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.278, -100.816 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Oldham

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Oldham forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.405, -102.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Potter

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Potter forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.401, -101.894 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Randall

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Randall forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.966, -101.897 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Roberts

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Roberts forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.839, -100.813 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Sherman

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Sherman forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.278, -101.893 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Wheeler

When: December 25, 6:00 PM CST to December 27, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Wheeler forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.401, -100.270 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Heavy Snow, Hemphill	2000-12-25	4	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
Heavy Snow, Oldham	2000-12-25	74	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, December 2000

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: 5177607, 5177608, 5177609, 5177610, 5177611, 5177612, 5177613, 5177968, 5177969, 5177970, 5177971, 5177972, 5178104, 5178105, 5178106, 5178107, 5178108, 5178109, 5178110, 5178111.