Texas, 2001

Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, August 23, 2001

August 23, 2001 · NWS AMA · 16 events in 4 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms with large and damaging hail along with damaging winds occurred across the south-central and southeastern Texas panhandle during the afternoon and 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
$110,000
Crop damage
$30,000
Events
16

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 with large and damaging hail along with damaging winds occurred across the south-central and southeastern Texas panhandle during the afternoon and 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 23, 12:45 PM CST, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 23, 12:45 PM CST, 1 hour 43 minutes before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
145 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2001

SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWED A BROAD AREA OF SURFACE LOW PRESSURE FROM
SOUTHERN KANSAS EXTENDING SOUTHWEST ACROSS THE PANHANDLES. AT UPPER-
LEVELS...A FAIRLY VIGOROUS SHORTWAVE IN EASTERN COLORADO WAS MOVING
INTO THE PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON. INSTABILITY AND JET ENERGY
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE POINTED TO PROBABLE STORM INITIATION
LATE THIS AFTERNOON IN THE NORTHEASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE. EXPECT SOME
OF THESE STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE MOVING TOWARD AND INTO NORTHWESTERN
OKLAHOMA EARLY THIS EVENING. THE MODELS DIFFER AS TO STORM
DEVELOPMENT FURTHER WEST. THE ETA AND RUC DEVELOP CONVECTION
AGGRESSIVELY IN THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL PANHANDLE LATER THIS EVENING
WITH THE AVN DRY. FAVOR THE ETA/RUC SOLUTION (PER COORDINATION WITH
SPC) WITH SCATTERED STORMS DEVELOPING AND PERSISTING THROUGH MUCH OF
THE NIGHT ASSOCIATED WITH A SECOND VORT MAX IN NORTHEASTERN NEW
MEXICO. THIS PIECE OF ENERGY SHOULD PUSH SOUTHEAST OF THE AREA FRIDAY
AS NORTHWEST FLOW STRENGTHENS. HOWEVER...WITH DEEP LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE
IN PLACE...STORMS COULD ONCE AGAIN FIRE UP ESPECIALLY IN THE EAST
PERSISTING INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. A COLD FRONT PUSHING INTO THE NORTHERN
ZONES AND ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY WILL
AGGRAVATE THE SITUATION CONTINUING TO HELP FOCUS CONVECTIVE
DEVELOPMENT.

FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD...PERSISTENT NORTHWEST FLOW DEVELOPS WITH
EMBEDDED SHORTWAVES SATURDAY NIGHT...SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY NIGHT.
WILL UPGRADE TO A CHANCE OF STORMS IN THE EAST ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND
IN THE WEST ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY NIGHT WITH THE NEW AVN
DEPICTING MORE DETAIL IN THE SHORTWAVE PATTERN. TEMPERATURES SHOULD
BE A BIT COOLER THAN NORMAL AS HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES IN EARLY IN
THE WEEK. A LEE TROUGH SHOULD DEVELOP BY MID WEEK WITH TEMPERATURES
WARMING AND A BIT DRIER CONDITIONS POSSIBLE AS AN UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE
STRENGTHENS ACROSS THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES.

AMA 67/93 65/90 63 423
DHT 62/89 61/87 61 422

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

CB

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 23, 12:05 PM CST, 2 hours 23 minutes before
OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-232100-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
105 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2001

THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FORMING ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS
PANHANDLES LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SOME OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN
PORTIONS OF THE PANHANDLES.

BOUNDARIES ALREADY EXIST ACROSS THE AREA WHICH WILL CREATE LIFT
IN THE MOIST AIRMASS ALREADY IN PLACE. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL
MOVE EASTWARD IN NORTHERN KANSAS WITH A TRAILING BOUNDARY WHICH WILL
PUSH INTO NORTHERN OKLAHOMA BY THIS EVENING. AT THE MID LEVELS...
A TROUGH WILL BE MOVING OUT OF EASTERN NEW MEXICO AND ACROSS
THE PANHANDLES AREA. THIS COMBINATION WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM THE EARLY STORMS MAY BE
PRESENT LATER THIS EVENING AND TRIGGER MORE STORMS WHICH COULD
INCLUDE HEAVY RAIN.

SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ESPECIALLY IN THE
CENTRAL AND EASTERN PANHANDLES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR POSSIBLE
ACTIVATION LATER THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING.

WYNNE

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:25 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Donley

When
August 23, 2:28 PM CST
Where
Donley County, Jericho
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
35.167, -100.917

Hail, Potter

When
August 23, 2:41 PM CST
Where
Potter County, 7 mi N of Amarillo
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
35.300, -101.817

Hail, Potter

When
August 23, 2:45 PM CST
Where
Potter County, 6 mi N of Amarillo
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates
35.283, -101.817

Hail, Potter

When
August 23, 2:57 PM CST
Where
Potter County, 6 mi N of Amarillo
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates
35.283, -101.817

Hail, Potter

When
August 23, 3:05 PM CST
Where
Potter County, 5 mi NNE of Amarillo
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
35.267, -101.783

Thunderstorm Wind, Carson

When
August 23, 3:10 PM CST
Where
Carson County, 15 mi W of Conway
Measured
56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
35.200, -101.650

Hail, Donley

When
August 23, 3:28 PM CST
Where
Donley County, Ashtola
Measured
0.75 in hail
Crop damage
$30,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.000, -101.067

The hail damaged three hundred to four hundred acres of crops near the Armstrong county line. Cotton was the hardest crop hit...however some hay and watermelons were also damaged.

Thunderstorm Wind, Donley

When
August 23, 3:29 PM CST
Where
Donley County, Jericho
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage
$70,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
35.167, -100.917

High winds blew over a cattle truck.

Thunderstorm Wind, Donley

When
August 23, 3:30 PM CST
Where
Donley County, Clarendon
Measured
69 kt (79 mph)
Property damage
$40,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.933, -100.900

High winds at Clarendon High School knocked over the top two-thirds of one of the light poles at Bronco Stadium. The steel pole snapped electric lines and disrupted power in the city for half an hour. The pole fell on top of the south wall of the stadium but did not damage the historic rock wall.

Hail, Donley

When
August 23, 3:50 PM CST
Where
Donley County, Lelia Lake
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.900, -100.783

Hail, Donley

When
August 23, 4:05 PM CST
Where
Donley County, Lelia Lake
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
34.900, -100.783

Hail, Donley

When
August 23, 4:10 PM CST
Where
Donley County, Lelia Lake
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
34.900, -100.783

Hail, Armstrong

When
August 23, 4:15 PM CST
Where
Armstrong County, Goodnight
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
35.033, -101.200

Hail, Armstrong

When
August 23, 4:17 PM CST
Where
Armstrong County, Goodnight
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
35.033, -101.200

Hail, Donley

When
August 23, 4:37 PM CST
Where
Donley County, Hedley
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
34.867, -100.667

Thunderstorm Wind, Donley

When
August 23, 4:45 PM CST
Where
Donley County, 1 mi S of Hedley
Measured
69 kt (79 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
34.867, -100.667

Two inch diameter tree limbs were blown down by the high winds.

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, 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: 5267213, 5267214, 5267215, 5267216, 5267217, 5267218, 5267219, 5267220, 5267221, 5267222, 5267223, 5267314, 5267315, 5267316, 5267317, 5267318.