Texas, 2008

Winter Weather in Texas, February 5, 2008

February 5, 2008 · NWS AMA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

S. Highway 287 just south of Cactus in Moore County.

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

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The toll

Deaths
2
Injuries
5
Property damage
$15,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

One inch of snow with strong winds of twenty-five to thirty miles an hour with gusts to near forty miles an hour contributed to a rollover of a van on U.S. Highway 287 just south of Cactus in Moore County. Two women were killed in the accident and five other passengers were injured.

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 Feb 5, 11:00 AM CST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 11:00 AM CST, 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1100 AM CST TUE FEB 5 2008

.UPDATE...
HAVE ISSUED UPDATE TO FCST PCKG TO EXPAND COVERAGE OF HEADLINES. NRN
SHRTWV TROF WILL LIFT ACRS NWRN ZONES TDA WHILE SRN SHRTWV TROF WILL
IMPACT SERN AND ERN ZONES. LIGHT SNOW EXPECTED ACRS NRN AND WRN ZONES
WHERE COLD AIR ALREADY ERODING WARM LAYER ALOFT...PRIMARILY AREAS ON
THE CAPROCK. WARM LAYER EXPECTED TO PERSIST LONGER OFF THE CAPROCK.
THEREFORE...SHOULD SEE FZRA OR FZDZ CONTINUE INTO LATE AFTN. HAVE
ISSUED WINTER WEATHER ADZY FOR ERN AND SERN ZONES.

TEXT PRODUCTS OUT...WITH WSW EN ROUTE.

KRAMAR

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 640 AM CST TUE FEB 5 2008/

DISCUSSION...
MOST WX OCCURRING IN SHORT TERM PERIODS. LATEST MODELS CONTINUE TO
SUGGEST HEAVIEST SNOWS TO OCCUR IN OK PNHDL...ON THE ORDER OF ABOUT 3
INCHES...WITH ABOUT 2 INCHES ACROSS EXTREME NRN TX PNHDL...1 TO 2
INCHES REMAINDER OF AREA EXCEPT SE TX PNHDL...WHERE LESS THAN ONE
INCH ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. BASED ON LATEST GFS...ECMWF...AND
OTHER SHORT RANGE MODELS...HAVE DECIDED TO EXPAND SNOW AND BLOWING
SNOW ADVISORY FURTHER E AND S TO ENCOMPASS MORE OF TX PNHDL WITH
EXPIRATION TIME OF 6 PM. WILL MENTION THAT SYSTEM HAS SLOWED A BIT
MORE...AND SOME MODELS DEPICT PRECIP LINGERING A BIT LONGER INTO THE
EVENING HOURS...ESPECIALLY NERN HALF OF FCST AREA. LATER SHIFTS MAY
NEED TO ASSESS THAT FURTHER IF FUTURE MODEL RUNS DICTATE.

RAPID IMPROVEMENT TONIGHT WITH A GENERALLY DRY FORECAST FROM
WEDNESDAY THRU NEXT TUESDAY AS NW FLOW ALOFT DEVELOPS. THIS TYPE OF
PATTERN WILL RESULT IN PERIODIC DRY COLD FRONTAL PASSAGES DURG THE
REMAINDER OF THE 7 DAY PERIOD.

ANDRADE

&&

.AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT FOR
     THE FOLLOWING ZONES: DALLAM...DEAF SMITH...HANSFORD...
     HARTLEY...HUTCHINSON...MOORE...OCHILTREE...OLDHAM...
     POTTER...RANDALL...SHERMAN.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT FOR THE
     FOLLOWING ZONES: ARMSTRONG...CARSON...COLLINGSWORTH...
     DONLEY...GRAY...HEMPHILL...LIPSCOMB...ROBERTS...WHEELER.

OK...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT FOR
     THE FOLLOWING ZONES: BEAVER...CIMARRON...TEXAS.

&&
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 5, 10:21 AM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1021 AM CST TUE FEB 5 2008

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-051900-
ARMSTRONG-BEAVER-CARSON-CIMARRON-COLLINGSWORTH-DALLAM-DEAF SMITH-
DONLEY-GRAY-HANSFORD-HARTLEY-HEMPHILL-HUTCHINSON-LIPSCOMB-MOORE-
OCHILTREE-OLDHAM-POTTER-RANDALL-ROBERTS-SHERMAN-TEXAS-WHEELER-
1021 AM CST TUE FEB 5 2008

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

.DAY ONE...
SNOW WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS
PANHANDLES FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST. IN ADDITION...NORTH WINDS
WILL BE IN THE 20 TO 30 MILE AN HOUR RANGE WITH HIGHER GUSTS. THE
STRONG WINDS WILL RESULT IN BLOWING SNOW...SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING
VISIBILITIES AND POTENTIALLY PRODUCING NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.
A SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE AND FOR THE NORTHWEST HALF AND SOUTH CENTRAL
PORTIONS OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. A PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN OR SLEET
WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE EASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE GENERALLY EAST OF
A LINE FROM CLAUDE TO PANHANDLE TO PAMPA TO LIPSCOMB BEFORE
SWITCHING OVER TO SNOW LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THEREFORE A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS AND COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS ARE REQUESTED TO CALL IN THEIR
WINTER WEATHER REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO.

GOEHRING

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Moore

When
February 5, 11:30 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Moore forecast zone
Deaths
2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
5 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$15,000
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
35.838, -101.893 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A van traveling north on U.S. 287 when the driver lost control on the icy road and the vehicle skidded into the center median where it rolled over. Two women...whose ages were not known...were killed in the accident and five other passengers were injured.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Winter Weather, Moore2008-02-05FemaleVehicle/Towed TrailerDirect
Winter Weather, Moore2008-02-05FemaleVehicle/Towed TrailerDirect

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, February 2008

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: 79387.