Severe thunderstorms struck the central Texas panhandle during the late afternoon and early evening hours producing damaging winds and large hail.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS AMA wrote it up.
Severe thunderstorms struck the central Texas panhandle during the late afternoon and early evening hours producing damaging winds and large hail.
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, 1:04 PM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 204 PM CDT FRI AUG 23 2002 ISOLATED TO SCATTERED TS WILL CONTINUE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. LOOKS LIKE BEST AREA FOR ORGANIZED STORMS WILL BE OVER THE NORTHERN AND ESPECIALLY NORTHEAST ZONES WHERE SURFACE WINDS HAVE BACKED. 80KT 25H JET EXTENDS FROM UTAH WESTWARD TO THE EASTERN PACIFIC PER LATEST RUC MODEL. 12Z ETA WAS PARTIALLY UNAVAILABLE THIS MORNING SO WILL RELY MORE ON THE AVN. STILL LOOKS LIKE WESTERN ZONES WILL TEMPORARILY DRY OUT SATURDAY AFTERNOON BEFORE NEXT COOL FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE CENTRAL TEXAS PANHANDLE SATURDAY EVENING. THINKING AT THIS POINT IS THAT SATURDAY NIGHT HAS THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR ORGANIZED STORMS NEAR THE BOUNDARY AS THIS FEATURE PUSHES SOUTHWARD. LOOKS LIKE A DRYLINE AND NORTHWEST MID LEVEL FLOW DEVELOPING. WILL HOLD ON TO SLIGHT CHANCE POPS SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT WITH REMNANTS OF COOL FRONT OVER THE AREA. RIDGE OVER THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES EXPANDS LATE IN THE WEEKEND WITH NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUING OVER THE PANHANDLES. ALSO SOME INDICATIONS THE NOCTURNAL LOW LEVEL JET WILL RETURN TO THE SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS EARLY NEXT WEEK. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS SUGGEST ANOTHER COOL FRONT WEDNESDAY NIGHT. FCSTID = 13 AMARILLO 68 95 64 88 / 20 10 10 00 BEAVER 64 94 64 87 / 40 20 30 20 BOISE CITY 59 89 60 82 / 30 20 20 20 BORGER 68 95 65 89 / 30 10 20 00 BOYS RANCH 65 95 65 88 / 20 10 10 00 CANYON 68 95 64 88 / 20 10 10 00 CLARENDON 68 97 65 90 / 20 10 20 00 DALHART 62 92 61 85 / 20 10 10 00 GUYMON 66 93 65 86 / 40 20 30 20 HEREFORD 66 95 64 88 / 20 10 10 00 LIPSCOMB 65 95 64 88 / 40 20 30 20 PAMPA 66 95 64 88 / 30 10 20 00 SHAMROCK 68 97 65 90 / 30 10 30 00 WELLINGTON 69 98 66 91 / 30 10 20 00 .AMA... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. SLATTERY
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:35 UTC.
3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The high winds damaged tents near the Borger Community Activity Center.
Roofs were torn off of mobile homes and power lines were blown down by the strong winds in Valle de Oro northwest of Amarillo.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2002
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: 5312669, 5312670, 5312671, 5312672, 5312673.