Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, August 17, 2001

Name: Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, August 17, 2001
Start: 2001-08-17T17:09
End: 2001-08-17T17:09
Location: Oklahoma

August 17, 2001 · NWS AMA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Severe thunderstorm with high winds moved across the eastern Oklahoma panhandle during the early evening hours.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 thunderstorm with high winds moved across the eastern Oklahoma panhandle during the early evening hours.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 17, 2:26 PM CST, 2 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 2:26 PM CST, 2 hours 43 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
326 PM CDT FRI AUG 17 2001

PROGRESSIVE UPPER PATTERN FCST NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS INITIAL SHRTWV
MVS THROUGH MS VALLEY INTO NE U.S. UPPER RIDGE OVER INTER-MOUNTAIN
REGION WILL SLIDE E INTO SRN PLAINS BUT LOSE AMPLITUDE. VERY STRONG
STORM SYSTEM WILL DROP S OUT OF GULF OF AK AND AFFECT PAC NW EARLY
NEXT WITH AFFECTS BEING FELT IN PLAINS AS EARLY AS MID WEEK.

FOR TONIGHT...PLAN ON AREAL COVERAGE TERMS IN SE ZNS WHERE ISOLD
CONVECTION OCCURRING ALONG SHEAR AXIS EXTENDING NE INTO CENTRAL OK.
SUBSIDENCE ATTM BEHIND THIS WV ACROSS NE BUT A FEW SHOWERS
ATTEMPTING TO ORGANIZE THERE. ACTIVITY ACROSS ERN NM LIKELY TO
PERSIST LONGEST AND DROP S VCNTY WRN CWA BORDER THIS EVE. WILL GO
WITH HIGHER UNCERTAINTY POPS NW WITH CONTINUED 20 POPS CENTRAL/NE.

WEAK WINDSHIFT OVERNIGHT COVERED WELL BY PREVIOUS PACKAGE WITH
LITTLE OR NO IMPACT ON TEMPS ON SAT. H8 TEMPS ACTUALLY PROGGED TO
WARM A COUPLE DEGREES EACH DAY THIS WEEKEND SO WILL CONTINUE
WARMING TREND THROUGH SUN DESPITE MOS INSISTENCE THE OTHER WAY.

IN EXTENDED...
PLAN ON KEEPING POPS IN NW ZNS THROUGHOUT AS PLENTY OF SUBTROPICAL
MOISTURE ACROSS OLD MEXICO BLEEDING INTO SW U.S. AS RIDGE AXIS
SHIFTS E WITH TIME...MOUNTAIN CONVECTION LIKELY TO BECOME MORE
NUMEROUS. WEAK STEERING FLOW WILL ALLOW CHCS FOR ONLY NW ZNS
INITIALLY...HOWEVER THIS EXPECTED CHG LATER IN WEEK AS STRONGER
SWRLY FLOW MVS E. TEMPS SHOULD CONTINUE TO WARM INTO VERY EARLY NEXT
WEEK BEFORE LEVELING OFF OR DROPPING THROUGH MIDWEEK WITH INCREASED
CLOUDS/PRECIP POSSIBILITIES.

.AMA...
TX...NONE.
OK...NONE.

COBB

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 131 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:11 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Beaver

When: August 17, 5:09 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, 3 mi N of Elmwood
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.667, -100.517

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, August 2001

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: 5267202.