A weak shortwave trough and a stationary front allowed thunderstorms to develop across southwestern Kansas during the evening hours of the 18th. Outflow boundaries produced by these storms pushed the storms southward and into the central Oklahoma Panhandle.
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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.
A weak shortwave trough and a stationary front allowed thunderstorms to develop across southwestern Kansas during the evening hours of the 18th. Outflow boundaries produced by these storms pushed the storms southward and into the central Oklahoma Panhandle. Having moved too far south of dynamic forcing the storms quickly diminished over the Oklahoma Panhandle and produced an isolated severe thunderstorm downburst.
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 18, 5:27 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 627 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 .AVIATION... FOR THE 00Z TAFS...SMALL CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS MAY PASS NEAR KGUY DURG FIRST FEW HOURS OF THIS FCST...AND HAVE INCORPORATED A VCTS ELEMENT AT THAT SITE TIL 03Z. OUTSIDE OF THAT...VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AT ALL TERMINAL SITES THROUGH 00Z WED. ANDRADE && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 253 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2014/ DISCUSSION... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE CURRENTLY FIRING IN NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND SOUTH OF LUBBOCK, CLOSE TO MIDLAND. WILL HAVE TO WATCH AND SEE IF STORMS UP NORTH ARE ABLE TO FILL IN AND INVADE THE PANHANDLES. REGARDLESS IF THEY'RE ABLE TO HOLD TOGETHER THE OVERALL SEVERE THREAT LOOKS TO BE VERY LOW AS LIMITED CAPE AND SHEAR WILL LEND TOWARDS CONVECTION STRUGGLING TO ORGANIZE. THINK MAIN THREAT TODAY (AND THE REST OF THE WEEK) WOULD BE COLLAPSING STORMS PRODUCING ISOLATED WIND GUSTS OVER 50 MPH. ON TUESDAY LOOKS LIKE STORMS WILL TRY AND FORM SOUTH OF THE AREA AND ATTEMPT TO PUSH INTO THE SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE, BUT AT THIS TIME BELIEVE LOCATIONS CLOSER TO LUBBOCK HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF SEEING ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. ALSO STORMS WILL FORM ALONG THE HIGHER TERRAIN IN NEW MEXICO AND MAKE A RUN TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST PANHANDLES. AS MOST OF THESE STORMS WILL BE DIURNALLY DRIVEN THINK THE AFTERNOON/EVENING TIME FRAME CONTAIN THE BEST CHANCES TO SEE STORMS. ALMOST A COPY AND PASTE FORECAST THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK WITH HIGHS IN THE 90S AND A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SOMEWHERE IN THE PANHANDLES EACH AFTERNOON/EVENING. STORMS WILL FORM ALONG THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND A FEW STRAY ONES MIGHT MAKE IT INTO THE PANHANDLES, BUT AT THIS TIME EXPECT MOST PEOPLE IN THE AREA TO REMAIN DRY THROUGH THE WORKWEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. AGAIN CAN'T RULE OUT A SEVERE STORM OR TWO DURING THE WEEK, BUT THINK MOST PEOPLE THAT GET UNDER A STORM WILL EXPERIENCE JUST RAIN AND LIGHTNING. BROAD RIDGING STARTS TO BUILD IN TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES OVER THE WEEKEND WHILE A TROUGH MOVES IN FROM THE NORTHWEST. MODELS CURRENTLY ARE NOT AGREEING ON THE STRENGTH OF EITHER OF THESE TWO FEATURES AND HOW IT WILL IMPACT THE PANHANDLES SITTING BETWEEN THEM. CURRENTLY HAVE THE FORECAST IN THESE PERIODS MOSTLY DRY BUT WILL HAVE TO MONITOR IT IF/WHEN MODELS COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT. FIRE WEATHER... TODAY AND TOMORROW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES ARE EXPECTED TO FALL BELOW 20 PERCENT ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. AT THE SAME TIME WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE BETWEEN 10 TO 20 MPH, WITH TUESDAY BEING SLIGHTLY WINDIER THAN TODAY. CURRENTLY NOT AS CONCERNED WITH FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS DUE TO UNSUPPORTIVE FUELS. WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK WINDS LOOK TO BE BETWEEN 10 TO 20 MPH, BUT RELATIVE HUMIDITIES ARE EXPECTED TO BE ABOVE 20 PERCENT DURING THIS PERIOD, SO NO ELEVATED OR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 301 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-190915- CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB- HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON- GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH- 301 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE OKLAHOMA AND NORTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. NO SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED...BUT GUSTY WINDS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGEST STORM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE AND THE WESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. NO WIDESPREAD OR ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED...BUT A FEW STORMS THAT DEVELOP COULD BECOME STRONG TO MARGINALLY SEVERE WITH WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH...SMALL HAIL...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 559 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 OKZ003-182345- BEAVER OK- 559 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EASTERN BEAVER COUNTY UNTIL 645 PM CDT... AT 555 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES WEST OF KNOWLES...OR 7 MILES NORTHEAST OF BEAVER...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PENNIES AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 55 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM...ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN. * LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... BEAVER... MOCANE... KNOWLES... GATE... FORGAN... BALKO... IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...TAKE SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING. TORRENTIAL RAIN...WHICH MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES...IS ALSO LIKELY. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE ON A FLOODED ROADWAY...TURN AROUND DONT DROWN. LAT...LON 3666 9999 3662 10070 3700 10050 3700 10000 TIME...MOT...LOC 2258Z 264DEG 9KT 3691 10034 ANDRADE
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 150 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:30 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
As a diminishing thunderstorm neared the town of Hooker (Texas County), the Oklahoma mesonet site 1 mile west of Hooker (Texas County) measured a 60 mph thunderstorm downburst. After producing this gust, the thunderstorm continued to diminish and did not produce any further severe weather.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, August 2014
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: 537258.