Texas, 2001

Heavy Snow in Texas, December 30, 2001

December 30, 2001 · NWS AMA · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A strong low pressure system in the upper atmosphere over the southwestern states moved eastward and approached the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. A cold front moved through the panhandles ushering in colder canadian air.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
3

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.

A strong low pressure system in the upper atmosphere over the southwestern states moved eastward and approached the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. A cold front moved through the panhandles ushering in colder canadian air. Snow began falling during the late night and early morning hours with accumulations for the most part in the one to three inch range. However...snowfall totals of around four inches were reported in the extreme western Texas panhandle by the time the snow ended during the afternoon and early evening hours. Hartley...Dumas...and Vega all reported four inches of snow.

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 Dec 30, 4:00 AM CST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 30, 4:00 AM CST, 2 hours before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO, TX
400 AM CST SUN DEC 30 2001

WL KEEP SNOW ADZY ISSUED BY SAT DAY SHIFT FOR WRN 2/3 OF FCST AREA
...AND WL EXPAND TO INCLUDE SERN ZNS...FOR 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW
EXPCD TDA.  ALTHOUGH LOW-LVL MSTR RMNS SCANT OVR MUCH OF FCST AREA...
INCOMING H5 VOT MAX...WK TO MDT UPSLP FLOW...AND WK ISENTROPIC LIFT
...AND H7 MSTR FM 2 TO 3.5 G/KG...ALL LEAD US TO EXPC SNOW OVR
AFOREMENTIONED AREAS.  HIR REFLECTIVITIES...I.E. 20 TO 28 DBZ...ON
KAMA 88D ARE PRSTG/EXPANDING EWD/STRENGTHENING...SPLY OVR SWRN ZNS.
THUS...FEEL THAT FORCING TO SUPPORT SAME WL MIGRATE EWD TWD SERN ZNS
AS WELL.

UPSLP FLOW WL CONT THRU EVE...SO WL RETAIN CHC POPS TNGT.  LOWER POPS
WARRANTED ON MON AS WLY LOW-LVL FLOW RESUMES AND DRIER H7 AIR MOVS
INTO AREA.

COORD WITH LBB...OUN.  03

.AMA...
OK...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY OKZ001>002.
TX...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY TXZ001>003..006>008..011>020.

COCKRELL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Hartley

When
December 30, 6:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where
Hartley forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.840, -102.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Moore

When
December 30, 6:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where
Moore forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.838, -101.893 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Oldham

When
December 30, 6:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where
Oldham forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.405, -102.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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, December 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: 5276005, 5276006, 5276007.