Hail in Oklahoma, September 20, 2001

Name: Hail in Oklahoma, September 20, 2001
Start: 2001-09-20T18:39
End: 2001-09-20T19:15
Location: Oklahoma

September 20, 2001 · NWS AMA · 4 events in 1 county or zone

Severe thunderstorms containing large hail occurred 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: 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 containing large hail occurred 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 Sep 20, 1:37 PM CST, 5 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 20, 1:37 PM CST, 5 hours 2 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
237 PM CDT THU SEP 20 2001

THE MAIN FORECAST DIFFICULTY WILL BE PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURES.
SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWED A WEAK DRYLINE IN PLACE ACROSS THE
PANHANDLES FROM THE NORTHCENTRAL ZONE EXTENDING SOUTHWEST. A LOW
PRESSURE TROUGH WAS DRAPED ACROSS THE REGION WITH A SHORTWAVE
EMBEDDED IN NORTHWEST FLOW OVER NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO. AS THIS
SHORTWAVE PUSHES SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS WILL
INITIATE ALONG THE DRYLINE. WITH A VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS ACROSS
THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ZONES...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
POSSIBLE TONIGHT ESPECIALLY AS THE LOW-LEVEL JET DEVELOPS TO THE
SOUTHEAST THIS EVENING. A COLD FRONT PUSHING SOUTH ACROSS WESTERN
KANSAS AND EASTERN COLORADO WILL PUSH THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA
TONIGHT BUT MAY HANG UP OVER THE SOUTHERN ZONES FRIDAY. THIS WILL
COOL TEMPERATURES DOWN ABOUT 10 DEGREES COMPARED TO TODAYS
TEMPERATURES. PLENTY OF LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE WILL STILL BE IN PLACE...
HOWEVER ANTICYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT WITH SUBSIDENCE BEHIND AN EXITING
SHORTWAVE COULD LIMIT CONVECTION IN THE EASTERN AND CENTRAL ZONES
FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HOWEVER...ADDITIONAL VORT MAX ENERGY
SHOULD DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND PUSH INTO THE WESTERN HIGH
PLAINS FRIDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL HELP SUSTAIN MOUNTAIN STORMS OVERNIGHT
BRINGING A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO THE WESTERN ZONES AND POSSIBLY
INTO THE CENTRAL ZONES FRIDAY NIGHT. NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUES
SATURDAY WITH ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVE ACTIVITY POSSIBLE. WITH RETURN
FLOW AND A LEE TROUGH SETTING UP...ADDITIONAL STORMS MAY DEVELOP
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA.

FOR THE LATER PERIODS...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE THE NORTHWEST
FLOW SUNDAY USHERING DOWN A COLD FRONT ACROSS THE AREA. IF THIS
HAPPENS...COLD AIR ADVECTION WOULD INCREASE. IN ADDITION...THE
MODELS AMPLIFY A RIDGE IN THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES MONDAY. WITH
NORTHERLY WINDS ALOFT RESULTING...MOUNTAIN CONVECTION WOULD HUG THE
MOUNTAINS MONDAY AND TUESDAY...REDUCING THE LIKELIHOOD OF
PRECIPITATION IN THE PANHANDLES. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BEHIND THE
FRONT WOULD LOWER TEMPERATURES TEMPERATURES DURING THE EARLY PART OF
THE WEEK WITH A GRADUAL WARM UP POSSIBLE BY MID WEEK.

PRELIM CCF...
AMA 59/83 60/86 58 322
DHT 56/81 57/84 55 123

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

CB

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 135 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:38 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Beaver

When: September 20, 6:39 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, Logan
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.567, -100.217

Hail, Beaver

When: September 20, 6:54 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, Logan
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.567, -100.217

Hail, Beaver

When: September 20, 7:10 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, 6 mi SW of Gate
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 36.800, -100.117

Hail, Beaver

When: September 20, 7:15 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, 5 mi N of Gate
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 36.917, -100.050

What these are

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, 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: 5268479, 5268480, 5268481, 5268482.