Texas, 2000

Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Texas, October 23, 2000

October 23, 2000 · NWS AMA · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms developed across the southwestern and south-central Texas panhandle producing a tornado over the eastern sections of the city of Amarillo along with flooding rains and large hail across the southwestern Texas panhandle.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
0
Property damage
$15,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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 developed across the southwestern and south-central Texas panhandle producing a tornado over the eastern sections of the city of Amarillo along with flooding rains and large hail across the southwestern Texas panhandle.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Tornado, Randall

When
October 23, 1:10 PM CST to 1:15 PM CST
Where
Randall County, 5 mi SE of Amarillo
Rating
F0
Path length
0.4 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$3,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
35.150, -101.750

The tornado initially touched down near Loop 335 and Whitaker Road five miles southeast of Amarillo. As the tornado moved north...it touched down two or three additional times during its lifetime for only a few seconds each time as it moved across the eastern sections of Amarillo. The tornado caused minor damage to a barn and a few telephone poles in Randall county before moving into Potter county. The tornado path width and length was estimated.

Tornado, Potter

When
October 23, 1:15 PM CST to 1:40 PM CST
Where
Potter County, 5 mi ESE of Amarillo
Rating
F0
Path length
0.4 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$12,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
35.167, -101.733

The tornado...which began in Randall county...touched down three or four times during its lifetime for only a few seconds each time as it moved across the eastern sections of Amarillo. The tornado caused minor damage at a water park and also a grain elevator in northern Potter county before dissipating. The tornado path width and length was estimated.

Hail, Deaf Smith

When
October 23, 2:15 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith County, 23 mi W of Hereford
Measured
1.5 in hail
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
34.817, -102.800

Flash Flood, Oldham

When
October 23, 5:45 PM CST to 6:30 PM CST
Where
Oldham County, Adrian
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.405, -102.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Water was reported over the road one half mile east of intersection 385 and 101. The service road at mile marker 23 south of Interstate 40 was reported under water.

What these are

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.
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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2000Warnings in Texas, October 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: 5161178, 5161181, 5161179, 5161180.