Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, May 17, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, May 17, 2001
Start: 2001-05-17T17:00
End: 2001-05-17T21:31
Location: Oklahoma

May 17, 2001 · NWS AMA · 7 events in 3 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms containing large hail and high winds moved across the Oklahoma panhandle during the 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 containing large hail and high winds moved across the Oklahoma panhandle during the 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 May 17, 2:15 PM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 2:15 PM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
315 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

TEMPS IN MID 70S TO MID 80S DEG F ACRS PNHDLS HAVE ALLOWED AMS TO
BCM VERY UNSTABLE.  AMA 12Z SOUNDING ADJUSTED FOR MID 80S YEILDS LI
OF -11.  CDFNT LIES ACRS SERN AND SRN ZNS.  DIFFUSE OUTFLOW BNDRY
LIES ACRS NRN ZNS.  ELY COMPONENT TO SFC AND LOW-LVL WNDS ON N SIDE
OF CDFNT WL PVL THIS EVE AND TNGT...ASSISTING IN DVLPMT OF TSTMS.  H5
VOT MAX AND JET STREAK WL MOV INTO AREA FM W THIS EVE AND TNGT...
WHICH WL HELP INSTBY BE RELEASED.  WL MENTION PSBL SVR AND LOCALLY
HVY RNFL PSBL ALL SXNS TNGT.  SFC WNDS BCM SELY ON FRI OVR WRN ZNS
...AND WITH CNVGNC ALG RETREATING FNT OVR THIS AREA WILL KEEP HIST
CHC POPS FRI AND FRI NGT OVR WRN AND CNTRL ZNS.  SAME SITUATION FOR
SAT...I.E. AXIS OF INSTBY ALG CNVGNC ZONE OVR WRN AND SRN ZNS.  AVN
BRINGS CDFNT INTO NRN ZNS SAT EVE.  THUS...CHC POPS SAT NGT AS
WELL.  STGR CDFNT TO ARRIVE LATE SUN/ERY MON...SO WL KEEP CHC/SLGT
CHC TSTMS IN THIS TIME FRAME AS WELL.  WITH CONSIDERABLE
UNCERTAINTY IN LATER PDS...WL LEAVE SLGT CHC POPS IN FOR WED...WITH
GRDL WMG TREND TUE THRU THU.  03

.AMA...
TX...NONE.
OK...NONE0.

COCKRELL

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 17, 12:00 PM CST, 5 hours before

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-172100-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
100 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE
OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT.

ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL COMBINE WITH DAYTIME HEATING TO
PRODUCE A VERY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE ACROSS MUCH OF THE TEXAS AND
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THIS AFTERNOON. A FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS
SOUTHERN KANSAS WILL MOVE SOUTH INTO THE AREA TO PROVIDE A FOCUS
FOR THUNDERSTORMS...MEANWHILE INCREASING EASTERLY UPSLOPE
FLOW WILL HELP ORGANIZE ADDITIONAL STORMS ACROSS EASTERN NEW
MEXICO. ALL OF THIS ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST AND SOUTH
ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. WIND FIELDS IN THE UPPER PORTIONS OF
THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME FAVORABLE BY LATE AFTERNOON TO SUPPORT
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE
LARGE HAIL AND VERY H7EAVY RAINFALL.

ACTIVATION OF SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
ACROSS THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON
INTO TONIGHT.

COBB

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 209 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Cimarron

When: May 17, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Cimarron County, 5 mi SE of Kenton
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 36.850, -102.900

Hail, Cimarron

When: May 17, 5:55 PM CST
Where: Cimarron County, 15 mi SE of Kenton
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 36.750, -102.767

Hail, Texas

When: May 17, 7:05 PM CST
Where: Texas County, Goodwell
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: STORM CHASER
Coordinates: 36.600, -101.633

Hail, Texas

When: May 17, 7:13 PM CST
Where: Texas County, Goodwell
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.600, -101.633

Thunderstorm Wind, Texas

When: May 17, 7:30 PM CST
Where: Texas County, 1 mi W of Hooker
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 36.867, -101.233

Hail, Beaver

When: May 17, 8:44 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, 6 mi S of Beaver
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.733, -100.517

Hail, Beaver

When: May 17, 9:31 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, Gate
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.850, -100.050

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.
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

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, May 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: 5247654, 5247655, 5247658, 5247656, 5247657, 5247659, 5247660.