Tornado and Flash Flooding in Texas, May 19, 2001

Name: Tornado and Flash Flooding in Texas, May 19, 2001
Start: 2001-05-19T08:56
End: 2001-05-19T13:15
Location: Texas

May 19, 2001 · NWS AMA · 9 events in 2 counties and zones

damaging winds and flooding rains along with an isolated tornado ravaged parts of the northeastern Texas panhandle during the morning and early afternoon hours.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $15,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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...damaging winds and flooding rains along with an isolated tornado ravaged parts of the northeastern Texas panhandle during the morning and early afternoon 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 19, 4:20 AM CST, 4 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 19, 4:20 AM CST, 4 hours 36 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
520 AM CDT SAT MAY 19 2001

MAJOR CHANGES TO PNHDLS WX TO OCCUR DURING NEXT 48 HRS. WEEKEND WILL
KICK OFF WITH STG TO SVR TSRA WITH LCLLY HVY RA...THEN WRAP UP WITH
BREEZY AND MUCH COOLER CONDITIONS.

UPR LVL DISTURBANCES THAT WILL ASSIST IN CONVECTIVELY ACTIVE WX
DURING THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HRS ARE BEGINNING TO INTERACT WITH EACH
OTHER OVER SWRN U.S. ONE HAS SUB-TROPICAL ORIGINS WITH ABUNDANT MID
AND UPR LVL MOISTURE AND IS MVG NNE OVER NWRN MEX THIS MORNING. THE
OTHER IS ACTUALLY A BIT STRONGER AND IS MVG SE JUST OFF SRN CA
COAST. PRIMARY QUESTION REGARDING THESE TWO DISTURBANCES IS WHETHER
OR NOT THEY WILL PHASE. DESPITE SHORT RANGE MODELS UNDERESTIMATING
STRENGTH OF TWO SYSTEMS...ETA DOES ATTEMPT TO PHASE THE TWO SYSTEMS
WHILE THE AVN/NGM DO NOT. THOUGHTS ARE THAT THE TWO WILL COME VERY
CLOSE TO PHASING WHICH WOULD TEND TO SLOW THEIR EWD PROGRESS A BIT.
THIS WOULD DIMINISH POTENTIAL FOR SFC TROUGH CURRENTLY IN ERN NM TO
ACCELERATE EWD AS FAST AS THE PROGS ARE SUGGESTING...PARTICULARLY
THE ETA. THEREFORE...ANOTHER ROUND OF WIDESPREAD SHRA/TSRA IS VERY
LIKELY THIS AFTN AND TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH BROAD CANOPY OF HIGH CLOUDS
IN ADVANCE OF UPR DISTURBANCE IS EXPECTED TO INHIBIT STRONG
INSOLATION...ABUNDANT BL MOISTURE WILL STILL ALLOW ATMOSPHERE TO
BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE THIS AFTN. SVR WX STILL A GOOD BET AS
STRENGTHENING WINDS ALOFT WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR STORMS TO ROTATE...
EVEN WITH WEAK INSTABILITY. AS SHOWERS AND STORMS EVOLVE INTO
CLUSTERS THEN LIKELY AN MCS THIS EVENING...LOCALLY HVY RAINS WILL
BECOME THE PRIMARY CONVECTIVE THREAT.

STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BLAST THROUGH THE PNHDLS SUN NIGHT USHERING
IN UNSEASONABLY COOL AIRMASS FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. TEMPS ARE
EXPECTED TO BE WELL BELOW NORMAL MON AND TUE. MUCH DRIER BL AIR WILL
OVERSPREAD THE AREA AS WELL...DIMINISHING THE THREAT FOR PRECIP.
HOWEVER...MODERATING TEMPS AND INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
BEGINNING MID-WEEK MAY BRING ABT A VERY SLIGHT CHANCE FOR PRECIP.

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

JH

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:56 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Roberts

When: May 19, 8:56 AM CST
Where: Roberts County, 20 mi NW of Miami
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.900, -100.883

Thunderstorm Wind, Roberts

When: May 19, 8:56 AM CST
Where: Roberts County, 20 mi NW of Miami
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.900, -100.883

Hail, Roberts

When: May 19, 9:28 AM CST
Where: Roberts County, 15 mi NW of Miami
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.850, -100.817

Hail, Roberts

When: May 19, 9:30 AM CST
Where: Roberts County, 10 mi NW of Miami
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 35.800, -100.767

Thunderstorm Wind, Roberts

When: May 19, 9:30 AM CST
Where: Roberts County, 10 mi NW of Miami
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 35.800, -100.767

Tornado, Roberts

When: May 19, 9:45 AM CST to 9:47 AM CST
Where: Roberts County, 6 mi NW of Miami
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.2 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.767, -100.717

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

Thunderstorm Wind, Hemphill

When: May 19, 11:15 AM CST
Where: Hemphill County, 20 mi SE of Canadian
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.700, -100.133

Trees and power poles were reported blown down.

Flash Flood, Roberts

When: May 19, 11:42 AM CST to 12:45 PM CST
Where: Roberts County, 5 mi SW of Miami
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.839, -100.813 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four inches of water was reported covering U.S. Highway 60.

Flash Flood, Hemphill

When: May 19, 12:04 PM CST to 1:15 PM CST
Where: Hemphill County, 8 mi S of Canadian
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.838, -100.270 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

U.S. Highway 83 was reported under water.

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.
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.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Texas, 2001 Warnings in Texas, 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: 5247685, 5247771, 5247772, 5247773, 5247774, 5247775, 5247778, 5247776, 5247777.