Texas, 2003

Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Texas, June 3, 2003

June 3, 2003 · NWS AMA · 9 events in 2 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms over the southwestern Texas panhandle during the evening hours produced large hail and a couple of tornadoes. No damage or injuries were reported from these tornadoes.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
None recorded
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 over the southwestern Texas panhandle during the evening hours produced large hail and a couple of tornadoes. No damage or injuries were reported from these tornadoes. Very heavy rainfall did result in flash flooding over the southwestern Texas 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 Jun 3, 3:19 PM CST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 3, 3:19 PM CST, 2 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
412 PM CDT TUE 03 JUN 2003

EXCELLENT DIRECTIONAL SHEAR AND MARGINAL SPEED SHEAR COULD RESULT IN
SHORT-LIVED TORNADOES...MAINLY SOUTHWEST TEXAS PANHANDLE. LIMITING
FACTOR WILL BE THE LACK OF INSOLATION DUE TO CLOUD COVER MOST OF
THE DAY. BETTER SETUP FOR HEAVY RAIN PRODUCERS AS FRONTAL BOUNDARY
STRETCHES NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE PANHANDLE REGION. MOIST
CONVERGENCE NORTH AND EAST OF THIS BOUNDARY WILL SUSTAIN NOCTURNAL
THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP AHEAD OF APPROACHING WIND SPEED MAXIMUM.

THIS PATTERN PERSISTS INTO THE WEEKEND...SO NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
ANTICIPATED. UPPER RIDGE FLATTENS EARLY NEXT WEEK AND INTRODUCES
WARMUP AND DRIER CONDITIONS.

FCSTID = 08

AMARILLO    59 76 58 76 / 60 30 50 30
BEAVER      56 69 54 75 / 60 30 50 30
BOISE CITY  55 74 54 73 / 60 30 50 30
BORGER      57 74 57 76 / 60 30 50 30
BOYS RANCH  58 76 56 76 / 60 30 50 30
CANYON      59 77 59 77 / 60 30 50 30
CLARENDON   63 76 64 77 / 60 30 50 30
DALHART     56 75 55 74 / 60 30 50 30
GUYMON      56 71 55 74 / 60 30 50 30
HEREFORD    60 78 59 77 / 60 30 50 30
LIPSCOMB    59 71 60 76 / 60 30 50 30
PAMPA       60 74 61 76 / 60 30 50 30
SHAMROCK    64 74 66 77 / 60 30 50 30
WELLINGTON  64 75 67 78 / 60 30 50 30

.AMA...
TX...NONE.
OK...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 3, 12:00 PM CST, 5 hours 29 minutes before
OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-041100-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
100 PM CDT TUE JUN 3 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES.

.DAY ONE...

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...
TORNADOES...AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL. THE GREATEST RISK OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IS WEST OF A LINE FROM CLARENDON...BORGER...DUMAS...TO
BOISE CITY. THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF AMARILLO...CANYON...BORGER...
HEREFORD...BOISE CITY...AND DALHART. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TEXAS
AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE PRIMARY THREAT OF
SEVERE WEATHER IN THE SLIGHT RISK AREA IS LARGE HAIL...TORRENTIAL
RAINFALL...AND DAMAGING WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ON WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES. DAMAGING WINDS...
CONTINUED HEAVY RAINFALL...AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY SEVERE
WEATHER THREATS. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR MORE THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY
THROUGH SUNDAY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF
BECOMING SEVERE...AS WELL AS HAVING THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON. SPOTTERS ARE EXPECTED
TO BE ACTIVATED BY 5 PM OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF THE PANHANDLES...
WHILE SPOTTERS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ACTIVATED BY 7 PM OVER THE EASTERN
HALF. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY EACH DAY WEDNESDAY
THROUGH SUNDAY.

FOX

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Deaf Smith

When
June 3, 5:29 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith County, 25 mi WSW of Hereford
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
METEOROLOGIST(NON NWS)
Coordinates
34.683, -102.800

Tornado, Deaf Smith

When
June 3, 6:37 PM CST to 6:48 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith County, 26 mi NW of Hereford
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
50 yd
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
35.083, -102.717

Two tornadoes were reported over open country with no damage or injuries reported. The path length and path width were estimated.

Hail, Deaf Smith

When
June 3, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith County, 25 mi NW of Hereford
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates
35.067, -102.717

Tornado, Deaf Smith

When
June 3, 7:08 PM CST to 7:11 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith County, 23 mi W of Hereford
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
34.817, -102.800

The tornado remained over open country and no damage or injuries were reported. The path length and path width were estimated.

Hail, Deaf Smith

When
June 3, 7:10 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith County, 18 mi NW of Hereford
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
35.000, -102.617

Hail, Deaf Smith

When
June 3, 7:25 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith County, 11 mi N of Hereford
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
34.983, -102.400

Hail, Deaf Smith

When
June 3, 7:25 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith County, 19 mi N of Hereford
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
35.100, -102.400

Hail, Randall

When
June 3, 7:56 PM CST
Where
Randall County, 5 mi W of Umbarger
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
34.950, -102.183

Flash Flood, Deaf Smith

When
June 3, 8:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith County, 11 mi N of Hereford
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
34.966, -102.605 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The intersection of U.S. Highway 385 and Farm to Market Road 1057 was reported to be underwater.

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2003Warnings in Texas, June 2003

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: 5366069, 5366070, 5366151, 5366150, 5366152, 5366153, 5366154, 5366155, 5366427.