Oklahoma, 2009

High Wind in Oklahoma, February 20, 2009

February 20, 2009 · NWS AMA · 2 events in 1 county or zone

A cold front pushed through the central Oklahoma Panhandle during the late evening hours which resulted in strong winds. although no injuries were reported.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$8,000
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.

A cold front pushed through the central Oklahoma Panhandle during the late evening hours which resulted in strong winds. The strong winds caused damage...although no injuries were reported.

At 2215 CST...a fifty-three knot high wind gust was measured at the ASOS station located two miles west of Guymon.

At 2235 CST...a trained spotter in Hardesty estimated wind gusts between fifty-two and fifty-six knots with shingles blown off roofs along with damage to trees and a small outbuilding.

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 20, 7:04 PM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 7:04 PM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
704 PM CST FRI FEB 20 2009

.UPDATE...
HAVE LET RED FLAG WARNING EXPIRE ON SCHEDULE THIS EVENING AS WINDS
HAVE DIMINISHED TO WELL BELOW CRITERIA. SFC COLD FRONT WILL PLOW THRU
FCST AREA THIS EVENING...AND WILL WATCH WINDS CLOSELY AS SPEEDS IN
SOME LOCATIONS MAY APPROACH WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA.

ANDRADE

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 548 PM CST FRI FEB 20 2009/

AVIATION...
A COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THE PANHANDLES THIS EVENING...
BRINGING A WIND SHIFT TO ALL THREE TERMINALS. WIND SPEEDS SHOULD
INCREASE INTO THE 20 TO 25 KNOT RANGE WITH A FEW GUSTS APPROACHING 30
KNOTS...BEFORE DIMINISHING BY MID MORNING ON SATURDAY. THERE COULD BE
A BRIEF WINDOW OF SOME LOWER CLOUDS BEHIND THE FRONT...BUT CONFIDENCE
IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO INCLUDE IN THE TAFS JUST YET. WILL CONTINUE TO
MONITOR THIS POSSIBILITY FOR THE 06Z TAF ISSUANCE. OTHERWISE...VFR
CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE FOR NOW.

TAB

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 330 PM CST FRI FEB 20 2009/

DISCUSSION...
AFTERNOON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY OVERLAID WITH RUC UPPER ANALYSIS
INDICATES WEAK UPPER TROUGH OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS WITH LOW
AMPLITUDE RIDGE BUILDING OVER THE WESTERN CONUS. AS A SURFACE LOW
OVER NORTHERN KS SLIDES SOUTHEAST THIS EVENING...A COLD FRONT
PUSHES THROUGH THE PANHANDLES TONIGHT. COMBO OF COLD ADVECTION
BEHIND THE FRONT AND STRENGTHENING PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL LEAD TO
WIND SPEEDS TO FURTHER INCREASE...ALTHOUGH THINK WINDS SHOULD STAY
BELOW WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA. LEANED TOWARD THE WARMEST MOS GUIDANCE
TONIGHT FOR LOWS GIVEN GUSTY WINDS AND HIGH CLOUDS OUT WEST
ADVANCING ACROSS THE AREA.

UPPER TROUGH DIGS INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION SATURDAY AND STRENGTHENS
AS JET AXIS DIGS ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE TROUGH. MID/UPPER RIDGE
FURTHER AMPLIFIES IN RESPONSE WITH MORE ENHANCED NORTHWEST FLOW
ALOFT. SHOULD SEE WINDS DIMINISHING DURING THE DAY AS CANADIAN HIGH
PRESSURE SETTLES OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. NORTHERLY WINDS AHEAD OF
SURFACE RIDGE WILL LEAD TO COOLER TEMPS SATURDAY WITH HIGHS IN THE
UPPER 40S/LOWER 50S.

UPPER RIDGE FLATTENS AS IT MOVES EAST EARLY NEXT WEEK. SURFACE LEE-
SIDE TROUGH DEVELOPS ONCE AGAIN AND STRENGTHENS OVER THE WESTERN
HIGH PLAINS BEHIND DEPARTING RIDGE. THIS WILL INDUCE ANOTHER PERIOD
OF WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS. A WEAK SURFACE LOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE
NORTHERN PLAINS TUESDAY AND DRAGS ANOTHER COLD FRONT THROUGH THE
AREA. HOWEVER SYSTEM LOOKS MOISTURE STARVED SO LEFT FORECAST DRY.
THUR-SAT PERIOD NOT CHANGED WITH TEMPS COOLING A LITTLE BY FRIDAY.

CLK

FIRE WEATHER...
WILL LET CURRENT RED FLAG WARNING CONTINUE UNTIL 7 PM CST AS
RELATIVE HUMIDITIES RECOVER TO ABOVE 20 PERCENT. WINDS SHOULD
DIMINISH SATURDAY AS CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE CENTRAL
PLAINS. LIGHTER WINDS AND HIGHER RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL
KEEP FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS LOW. HOWEVER 20 FOOT WINDS WILL INCREASE
AGAIN EARLY NEXT WEEK AND COMBINED WITH MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES
GENERALLY BELOW 20 PERCENT WILL LEAD TO ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER
CONDITIONS THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT WEEK.

CLK

&&

.AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
OK...NONE.

&&
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 20, 7:23 PM CST, 2 hours 52 minutes before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
723 PM CST FRI FEB 20 2009

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-211200-
ARMSTRONG-BEAVER-CARSON-CIMARRON-COLLINGSWORTH-DALLAM-DEAF SMITH-
DONLEY-GRAY-HANSFORD-HARTLEY-HEMPHILL-HUTCHINSON-LIPSCOMB-MOORE-
OCHILTREE-OLDHAM-POTTER-RANDALL-ROBERTS-SHERMAN-TEXAS-WHEELER-
723 PM CST FRI FEB 20 2009

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

.DAY ONE...

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES
TONIGHT...WITH STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER
GUSTS BEHIND THE FRONT. THEREFORE...CAUTION IS ADVISED ON AREA LAKES
THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES COMBINED WITH DRY GRASSES AND STRONG WINDS
WILL CAUSE ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY
ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

TAB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Texas

When
February 20, 10:15 PM CST to 10:16 PM CST
Where
Texas forecast zone
Measured
53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
36.748, -101.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Texas

When
February 20, 10:35 PM CST to 10:36 PM CST
Where
Texas forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$8,000
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
36.748, -101.490 (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

More

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, February 2009

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: 150604, 150605.