Hail in Texas, July 3, 2002

Name: Hail in Texas, July 3, 2002
Start: 2002-07-03T00:56
End: 2002-07-03T01:10
Location: Texas

July 3, 2002 · NWS AMA · 5 events in 2 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms developed during the late night and early morning hours over the south central Texas panhandle producing large hail.

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 developed during the late night and early morning hours over the south central Texas panhandle producing large hail.

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 Jul 2, 1:32 PM CST, 11 hours 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 1:32 PM CST, 11 hours 24 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
232 PM CDT TUE JUL 2 2002

LOOKING AT THE 12Z RUN OF THE MODELS...FEEL THAT THE ETA/MESOETA HAS
THE BEST HANDLE ON THE CURRENT SCENARIO.  SHEAR AXIS FCSTD TO
SLOWLY MOV WWD INTO THE PNHDLS WED AND WED NGT BFR WKNG CONSIDERABLY
BY THE 4TH OF JULY.  FEEL THAT THE ETA/MESOETA POSITIONING OF THE
MAIN SHRTWV ENERGY MUCH FARTHER S INTO SRN TX LOOKS VERY GOOD
CONSIDERING THE BROAD UPR RDG OVR THE SRN/CNTRL PLNS STATES.  THE AVN
WANTS TO BRING THE SHRTWV ENERGY NWD TWDS THE PNHDLS AND THIS DOES
NOT LOOK REASONABLE AT ALL.  THIS IS RESULTING IN HIER QPF BY THE AVN
FOR THE PNHDLS.  WITH THIS IN MIND...WL LWR POPS ALL ACRS THE FA WITH
KEEPING CHC POPS ACRS THE FAR ERN SXNS WHERE BETTER MSTR AND LIFT
FCSTD TO OCCUR.  CNVTN MORE LIKELY TO OCCUR ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE
SHEAR AXIS AND THE CNTRL/WRN SXNS FCSTD TO RMN AHD OF THIS FEATURE.
PRECIP CHC/S DO NOT LOOK VERY GOOD FOR THE WRN HALF OF THE PNHDLS AND
THIS COULD POSE A BIG PROBLEM FOR THE LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS ALREADY
PREPARING FOR AN ACTIVE 4TH OF JULY.

PRECIP CHC/S FOR THE 4TH OF JULY INTO THE WKND AND ERY NEXT WK DROP
OFF CONSIDERABLY AS THE SHEAR AXIS WKNS AND DSIPTS ALLOWING THE UPR
RDG TO DOMINATE.  MUCH WARMER TEMPS AND SHRTWV ENERGY RMNG TO OUR W
SHOULD PRECLUDE DVLPMT OF CNVTN...BUT DAYTIME HEATING MAY ALLOW
SOME ISOLD CNVTN TO DVLP.  OTRW...DRY AND ABV NRML TEMPS FCSTS TO
RETURN SAT THRU TUE.

FCSTID = 11

AMARILLO    63 85 64 84 /  10 20 20 30
BEAVER      67 87 67 85 /  20 30 30 30
BOISE CITY  62 91 63 89 /  00 10 10 20
BORGER      65 85 65 84 /  10 20 20 30
BOYS RANCH  64 86 63 84 /  00 10 10 20
CANYON      63 86 64 84 /  10 20 20 30
CLARENDON   67 83 67 85 /  20 30 30 30
DALHART     62 87 62 87 /  00 10 10 20
GUYMON      66 90 66 87 /  10 20 20 30
HEREFORD    62 86 63 85 /  00 10 10 20
LIPSCOMB    67 87 67 85 /  20 30 30 30
PAMPA       66 84 67 85 /  20 30 30 30
SHAMROCK    66 83 68 85 /  20 30 30 30
WELLINGTON  67 83 68 85 /  20 30 30 30

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

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 10 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Potter

When: July 3, 12:56 AM CST
Where: Potter County, Amarillo
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 35.200, -101.817

Hail, Potter

When: July 3, 12:58 AM CST
Where: Potter County, Amarillo
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 35.200, -101.817

Hail, Randall

When: July 3, 1:03 AM CST
Where: Randall County, 6 mi S of Amarillo
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 35.117, -101.817

Hail, Randall

When: July 3, 1:10 AM CST
Where: Randall County, 2 mi SW of Amarillo
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.183, -101.850

Hail, Randall

When: July 3, 1:10 AM CST
Where: Randall County, 6 mi SW of Amarillo
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 35.133, -101.900

What these are

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

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, July 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: 5307289, 5307290, 5307291, 5307292, 5307293.