High Wind, Texas
- When
- May 21, 3:00 PM CST to 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Texas forecast zone
- Measured
- 35 kt (40 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 36.748, -101.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Oklahoma, May 21, 2002
Strong pressure gradient resulted in forty mile per hour sustained winds at Kenton and Goodwell during the late afternoon and early evening in the western and central Oklahoma panhandle.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
Strong pressure gradient resulted in forty mile per hour sustained winds at Kenton and Goodwell during the late afternoon and early evening in the western and central Oklahoma panhandle.
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 21, 1:35 PM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 21, 1:35 PM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 235 PM CDT TUE MAY 21 2002 LATEST ANALYSIS SHOWS SFC TROF EXTNDG FROM CNTRL CO TO W OF KLVS TO W OF KSRR. WILL LET WIND ADVISORY EXPIRE A NATURAL DEATH AT 6 PM. MOISTURE RETURN BEGINNING TO SHOW UP ON VSBL SATELLITE IMAGERY IN CNTRL TX DOWN TO RIO GRANDE. WITH LOW LEVEL JET SETTING UP TNGT... MOISTURE SHOULD RETURN TO ERN ZNS AND PERHAPS CNTRL ZONES. SFC TROF ON WED SHOULD TRANSITION INTO A DRYLINE AND SLIDE EWD TO ALONG OR JUST OFF THE CAPROCK IN ERN ZNS WED. WILL REMOVE POPS WRN AND CNTRL ZNS WED AND WED NIGHT...RETAIN E WED AND WED NIGHT. SHORT RANGE MODELS HAVE SOME TIMING DIFFERENCES WITH RESPECT TO FRONTAL BOUNDARY FOR THU AND EARLY FRI. ETA SLIGHTLY FURTHER S. FOR NOW WILL COMPROMISE BETWEEN AVN AND ETA. MAY LOWER POPS TO SLGT CHC DAYLIGHT THU W AND CNTRL...CHC E. CHC ALL ZONES THU NIGHT. FOR THE PERIOD FRI THRU TUE...TAIL END OF SHORT RANGE MODELS LEADING INTO MEDIUM RANGE PROGS ALL SUGGEST TO A DEGREE THAT THE COLD FRONT DISCUSSED ABV WILL BEGIN WASHING OUT DURG THE WEEKEND WITH A RETURN OF LEESIDE TROF OR DRYLINE LATE IN WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT. SLGHT CHC TO CHC TSTMS FRI THRU TUE SEEM PLAUSIBLE SINCE THE PROGGED PATTERN DURG LATE PERIODS IS MORE TYPICAL OF MAY...SO AT LEAST A CLIMATOLOGICAL THREAT IS WARRANTED. OVERALL...PREVIOUS PCKG IS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE WITH SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS PLANNED AT THIS TIME. PRELIM VALUES FOLLOW. DHT 50/81/48/78/50 20023 GUY 54/81/53/78/52 20023 BGD 54/82/53/79/53 20023 AMA 55/82/53/80/53 20023 .AMA... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. ANDRADE
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 21, 12:00 PM CST, 3 hours before
OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-212200- TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 100 PM CDT TUE MAY 21 2002 ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP MAINLY OVER THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL PANHANDLES LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE ACTIVITY SHOULD REMAIN WEST OF A LINE FROM LIBERAL KANSAS TO CLARENDON. GULF MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING AND HELP DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE PANHANDLES. MEANWHILE... A POWERFUL JET STREAM ASSOCIATED WITH A STRONG STORM SYSTEM LOCATED OVER THE GREAT BASIN WILL BEGIN TO INFLUENCE THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE PANHANDLES BY THIS EVENING. THE COMBINATION OF THE APPROACHING STORM SYSTEM AND ATMOSPHERIC INSTABILITY WILL COMBINE TO ALLOW FOR MODERATE INSTABILITY OVER THE PANHANDLES BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCIES OR SKYWARN SPOTTERS IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT. THE NEXT THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING. SLATTERY
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Cimarron
- When
- May 21, 5:00 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Cimarron forecast zone
- Measured
- 35 kt (40 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 36.748, -102.518 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flooding in Alaska, May 21 to 31, 2002
- High Wind in Nebraska, May 21, 2002
- High Wind in Colorado, May 21, 2002
- Wildfire in Arizona, May 21 to 31, 2002
- High Wind in Colorado, May 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Montana, May 21, 2002
- High Wind in Colorado, May 21, 2002
- High Wind in Nebraska, May 21, 2002
- High Wind in Kansas, May 21, 2002
- High Wind in Colorado, May 21, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Montana, May 21 to 22, 2002
- High Wind in South Dakota, May 21, 2002
More
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, May 2002
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: 5296961, 5296960.