Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, September 19, 2001

Name: Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, September 19, 2001
Start: 2001-09-19T17:48
End: 2001-09-19T18:50
Location: Oklahoma

September 19, 2001 · NWS AMA · 6 events in 1 county or zone

Severe thunderstorms over the eastern Oklahoma panhandle produced large hail and a brief tornado 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 Oklahoma panhandle produced large hail and a brief tornado 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 Sep 19, 3:40 PM CST, 2 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 19, 3:40 PM CST, 2 hours 8 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
440 PM CDT WED SEP 19 2001

MID TO UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE STREAMING NORTHEAST OVER THE SOUTHERN
ROCKIES AND SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AS LOW-LEVEL
MOISTURE WAS BEING PULLED NORTH ACROSS WEST TEXAS AND INTO SOUTHWEST
KANSAS...IN ADVANCE OF A DEVELOPING DRYLINE IN EASTERN NEW MEXICO.

ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TONIGHT PRIMARILY
NEAR BANDS OF LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE STRETCHING FROM SOUTHWESTERN
KANSAS INTO SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO...AS WELL AS ACROSS THE CENTRAL
AND SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE. THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY RECEIVE
ADDITIONAL LIFT OVERNIGHT FROM STRENGTHENING LOW-LEVEL WARM AIR
ADVECTION PATTERN/ISENTROPIC LIFT.

DRYLINE TO TIGHTEN UP ON THURSDAY AS IT PUSHES INTO THE CENTRAL
TEXAS PANHANDLE. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN POSSIBLE THURSDAY
AFTERNOON...MAINLY ACROSS THE EAST. HOWEVER...COLD FRONT WILL PUSH
SOUTH INTO THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE THURSDAY EVENING AND THROUGH THE
TEXAS PANHANDLE BY LATE THURSDAY NIGHT. FOR NOW WILL INTRODUCE
SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THURSDAY NIGHT...BUT LATER SHIFTS MAY HAVE TO
INCREASE POP VALUES AS MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW STRENGTHENS BEHIND FRONT.
ALSO...MID LEVEL SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE WILL HANG AROUND AS WELL WITH
BANDS OF EMBEDDED VORTICITY. LAST SEVERAL SHORT RANGE MODEL RUNS...
PARTICULARLY ETA/AVN...HAVE INDICATED BEST CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION
TO BE SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT...PRIMARILY AS A RESULT OF
STRONGER PASSING TO THE NORTH OF THE AREA. THEREFORE...RAISED POPS
FROM SLIGHT CHANCE TO CHANCE. UPSLOPE COMPONENT EXPECTED TO PERSIST
THROUGH REST OF THE WEEK...SO NO CHANGES TO SUNDAY FORECAST OF SLIGHT
CHANCE TSRA.

IN THE EXTENDED...UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO VEER...
PRACTICALLY BECOMING NORTHERLY BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS MAY AID
ANOTHER WEAK COLD FRONT TO PUSH SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA BY SUNDAY
NIGHT/MONDAY. UPSTREAM FLOW WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH TO SPILL OVER THE
NORTHERLY FLOW...ALLOWING RIDGE TO DEVELOP OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. BY
MID WEEK...RESULTING IN A WARMING TREND.

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

JH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 19, 2:20 PM CST, 3 hours 28 minutes before

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-192200-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
320 PM CDT WED SEP 19 2001

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS ALL OF THE
TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.

A WARM...MOIST...AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS IS IN PLACE ACROSS THE
PANHANDLES THIS AFTERNOON. A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE TROUGH ACROSS
SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST KANSAS WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO
WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE PANHANDLES THIS AFTERNOON...AND WILL CONTINUE
MOVING SOUTHEAST THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. CONVERGING WINDS ALONG THE
TROUGH WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS. DUE TO THE
INSTABILITY ALREADY IN PLACE...STORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO
STRENGTHEN QUICKLY. SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE.

THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO PANHANDLES.
THE MAIN THREATS FROM THE STORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS...AND HEAVY RAIN. THE TURNING OF WINDS WITH HEIGHT WILL
SUPPORT ORGANIZED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...BUT THE WIND
SPEEDS AT THE MID LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW THOSE NEEDED
FOR TORNADO DEVELOPMENT.

SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ACROSS THE TEXAS AND
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION THIS
AFTERNOON OR THIS EVENING.

COCKRELL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Beaver

When: September 19, 5:48 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, Forgan
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.900, -100.533

Hail, Beaver

When: September 19, 5:50 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, Forgan
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.900, -100.533

Hail, Beaver

When: September 19, 6:04 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, Forgan
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.900, -100.533

Hail, Beaver

When: September 19, 6:28 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, Beaver
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.817, -100.517

Tornado, Beaver

When: September 19, 6:30 PM CST to 6:32 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, 7 mi SSW of Beaver
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.733, -100.567

The tornado path length and width were estimated. The tornado remained over open country.

Hail, Beaver

When: September 19, 6:50 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, 12 mi SE of Beaver
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.700, -100.367

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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.

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 The tornado archive for Oklahoma, 2001 Warnings in Oklahoma, September 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: 5267787, 5267788, 5267789, 5267790, 5267791, 5267792.