The month of September brought periods of monsoonal flow and as a result saw several precipitation events across the Texas Panhandle. 12 inch below normal).
Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
The month of September brought periods of monsoonal flow and as a result saw several precipitation events across the Texas Panhandle. Amarillo recorded 1.83 inches of precipitation for the month (0.04 inch below normal), Dalhart recorded 1.64 inches of precipitation (0.01 inch below normal), and Borger recorded 2.26 inches of precipitation (0.12 inch below normal). This September ranked as the 16th warmest and the 56th driest September for the Texas High Plains region. Several heavy rain events during the month led to the Texas Panhandle seeing a 1 category improvement for the second month in a row. Portions of the northwest Texas Panhandle remain in Extreme (D3) Drought rating while the western half of the Texas Panhandle has improved to Severe (D2) Drought rating. The remainder of the Texas Panhandle has dropped below Severe (D2) Drought rating.
The multiple heavy rain events during the month of September continued to provide relief to farmers across the Panhandle as upper zone soils have improved to greater than 100 percent of normal, and deeper soil zones ranging from 50 to 100 percent of normal. Farmers have been able to shutoff irrigation systems to allow corn and cotton crops to dry before harvest and some farmers have begun to plant winter wheat, as observed by the Texas Crop and Weather Report. The Palmer Drought Severity Index rates the Texas Panhandle at Extreme Drought due to the impact from the long range drought from the past three years. Countywide burn bans continue to be supported in Moore, Roberts, Hemphill, Wheeler, Potter, and Armstrong Counties.
Reservoirs and stream flows across the Panhandle have remained at near normal flow with short term rises to action and minor flood stages during heavy precipitation periods during the month. The reservoirs of Palo Duro and Greenbelt Lake are both below 15 percent capacity with Lake Meredith at zero percent capacity. Water watches for several public water systems persisted through September while voluntary to mandatory mild water restrictions have been enacted.
Economic losses due to the drought through September were estimated near $2 million (D2)/$5 million (D3)/$10 million (D4) a county, and were predominately the result of delayed growth of corn and cotton, marginal supplemental watering, reduction of cattle herd sizes, and supplemental feed for cattle in pastures and rangeland.
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 31, 10:41 PM CST, 1 hour 19 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 1141 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS...ONGOING SHOWERS ACROSS THE OK PANHANDLE WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT KGUY OVERNIGHT...AND HAVE COVERED WITH A TEMPO GROUP THROUGH 09Z. CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY REMAIN VFR /ALTHOUGH BRIEF MVFR VSBYS IN A HEAVIER SHOWER CANNOT BE RULED OUT/. AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WILL LIKELY BRING SOME GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS TO AROUND 25 KTS TO KGUY OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. COULD ALSO SEE A FEW SHOWERS IN THE VICINITY OF KDHT OVERNIGHT...BUT CONFIDENCE IN A DIRECT IMPACT IS LESS. ANY PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN NORTH OF KAMA OVERNIGHT. ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL TURN TO THE NORTHWEST AT KGUY AND POSSIBLY KDHT OVERNIGHT FROM OUTFLOW...THE TRUE COLD FRONT WILL PUSH SOUTH THROUGH THE PANHANDLES SUNDAY MORNING. WINDS WILL TURN TO THE NORTHEAST BEHIND THE FRONT BUT LIKELY REMAIN BELOW 15 KTS. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE BEHIND THE FRONT AT ALL THREE TERMINALS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT CONFIDENCE IN TIMING AND LOCATION IS TOO LOW TO INCLUDE IN THE TAFS. OUTSIDE OF ANY CONVECTION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE PERIOD. KB && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 240 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013/ DISCUSSION... ANOTHER DAY...ANOTHER DISCUSSION FOCUSED ON THE RIDGE. TOMORROW AND TOMORROW NIGHT...A COLD FRONT IS STILL ON TRACK TO ARRIVE IN THE OK PANHANDLE TOMORROW MORNING...AND THEN CONTINUE PUSHING SOUTH THROUGH THE DAY. KEPT CLOSE TO THE PREVIOUS FORECAST WITH POPS FORM 20 TO 30 PERCENT. WAS HESITANT TO RAISE POPS AS GENERALLY LIMITED INSTABILITY...EXCEPT IN THE NW PANHANDLES TOMORROW AFTERNOON...AND LACK OF ANY UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WILL LIMIT THE COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND STORMS. MONDAY...KEPT THE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN THE MORNING IN THE W AND S TX PANHANDLE. A FEW MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW PRECIP LINGERING AS LATE AS MONDAY EVENING. HOWEVER...THE CENTER OF THE RIDGE SHOULD BE BUILDING EAST...CLOSER TO THE REGION...AND WITH THE FRONT WELL SOUTH OF THE REGION BY THAT POINT...THE STABLE BOUNDARY LAYER AND WIDE SPREAD SUBSIDENCE SHOULD INHIBIT ANY CONVECTIVE INITIATION MONDAY AFTERNOON OR EVENING. TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...THE CENTER OF THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE REMAINS JUST WEST OF THE REGION THROUGH THIS TIME...LEADING TO A RETURN ONCE AGAIN OF HOT AND DRY WEATHER THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. FIRE WEATHER... A COLD FRONT SET TO ARRIVE TOMORROW WILL BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER WEATHER WHICH WILL HELP TO KEEP RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES ABOVE 20 PERCENT FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...PRECLUDING ANY ELEVATED OR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. JOHNSON && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. && 08/11
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 1052 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-011100- CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB- HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON- GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH- 1052 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE AND THE NORTHWESTERN SECTIONS OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE STRONGER STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME...HOWEVER LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE STRONGER STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. SCHNEIDER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Extreme drought as shown on the Drought Monitor.
Extreme drought as shown on the Drought Monitor.
Extreme drought as shown on the Drought Monitor.
Moderate drought as shown on the Drought Monitor.
Moderate drought as shown on the Drought Monitor.
Moderate drought as shown on the Drought Monitor.
Moderate drought as shown on the Drought Monitor.
Moderate drought as shown on the Drought Monitor.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, September 2013
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: 477612, 477613, 477614, 477615, 477616, 477617, 477618, 477619.