Dense Fog, Potter
- When
- September 7, 1:00 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
- Where
- Potter forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
- Coordinates
- 35.401, -101.894 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Quarter mile visibility at Amarillo.
Dense Fog in Texas, September 7, 2014
The combination of calm surface winds, abundant near surface moisture, and a clear sky led to the development of dense fog during the early morning hours of the 7th. This fog dropped visibility in Amarillo (Potter and Randall Counties) below a quarter mile from 1 AM CST until 7 AM CST.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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.
The combination of calm surface winds, abundant near surface moisture, and a clear sky led to the development of dense fog during the early morning hours of the 7th. This fog dropped visibility in Amarillo (Potter and Randall Counties) below a quarter mile from 1 AM CST until 7 AM CST. The lower visibility caused morning traffic to slow throughout the city. By 7 AM CST, low level winds picked up and mixed out the dense fog.
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 Sep 6, 9:22 PM CST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 6, 9:22 PM CST, 3 hours 38 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 1022 PM CDT SAT SEP 6 2014 .AVIATION... 06Z TAF CYCLE LOW CLOUDS NEAR THE I-40 CORRIDOR SOUTH WILL BEGIN TO EXPAND NORTHWARD AGAIN AFTER 06Z SUNDAY. GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS EARLY IN THE FORECAST PERIOD AT ALL THREE TAF SITES WILL BECOME IFR TO MVFR AFTER ABOUT 08Z TO 10Z SUNDAY WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF FOG REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO AROUND 1 TO 3 MILES AT THE AMARILLO TAF SITE BETWEEN 10Z AND 15Z SUNDAY. VFR CONDITIONS WILL RETURN AFTER 14Z TO 16Z SUNDAY. LIGHT AND VARIABLE...MOSTLY EAST AND SOUTHEAST WINDS...5 KNOTS OR LESS WILL BECOME SOUTH 5 TO 15 KNOTS AFTER 14Z TO 16Z SUNDAY. SCHNEIDER && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 901 PM CDT SAT SEP 6 2014/ UPDATE... REMOVED PRECIP CHANCES FROM THE SOUTHERN TX PANHANDLE FOR THE REST OF TONIGHT AS THE LAST OF THE SHOWERS HAVE EITHER DISSIPATED OR MOVED SOUTH OF THE AREA. ALSO ADDED FOG TO MUCH OF THE AREA LATE TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING GIVEN LIGHT WINDS...WET GROUNDS FROM THE RAIN...AND NO REAL ADDITIONAL DRY AIR ADVECTION ANTICIPATED OVERNIGHT. KB PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 643 PM CDT SAT SEP 6 2014/ AVIATION... 00Z TAF CYCLE A COOL AND MOIST UPSLOPE NORTHEAST TO EAST SURFACE FLOW 5 TO 10 KNOTS WILL BECOME LIGHT AND VARIABLE AFTER ABOUT 05Z TO 06Z SUNDAY. MVFR TO VFR CONDITIONS AT THE DALHART AND GUYMON TAF SITES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE TAF FORECAST PERIOD. MVFR CONDITIONS AT THE AMARILLO TAF SITE ARE EXPECTED TO LOWER TO VLIFR TO TO IFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES AT THE AMARILLO TAF SITE AFTER 06Z SUNDAY...AND THEN IMPROVE TO BECOME MVFR TO VFR AFTER 15 TO 17Z SUNDAY. SCHNEIDER PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 403 PM CDT SAT SEP 6 2014/ DISCUSSION... NO MAJOR CHANGES TO THE CURRENT FORECAST PACKAGE...THOUGH INCREASED POPS SOME FOR THE MIDDLE/END OF NEXT WEEK. SYNOPTICALLY...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL HELP TO DRY OUT AND WARM UP THE PANHANDLES A LITTLE THROUGH EARLY IN THE WEEK AFTER THIS RECENT WET AND COOL STRETCH. THEN...FOCUS WILL TURN TO A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DIGGING INTO THE CENTRAL CONUS AND A COLD FRONT IT WILL HELP TO PUSH THROUGH. IN THE SHORT TERM...SOME LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS AND DRIZZLE COULD LINGER AROUND THE SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING...BUT VERY LITTLE RAIN WILL BE MEASURED THE NEXT 24 HOURS. WARMER AND DRIER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH AT LEAST TUESDAY...THOUGH RH VALUES WILL REMAIN ELEVATED ABOVE TYPICAL LATE SUMMERTIME CONDITIONS THANKS TO RECENT MOISTURE. FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THIS NEXT WEEK...MODEL GUIDANCE DIVERGES ON HOW TO HANDLE THE NEXT COLD FRONT. BOTH ECMWF AND GFS AGREE ON AN INITIAL PUSH TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY BEFORE IT STALLS OUT. THE ECMWF THEN INDICATES THAT THE FRONT WILL RETREAT THURSDAY BEFORE ROARING SOUTH AGAIN ON FRIDAY. THE GFS BRINGS ONLY A WEAKER SECOND PUSH TO THE FRONT ON THURSDAY...KEEPING THE COOLER AIR MASS IN PLACE OVER THE PANHANDLES ONLY THROUGH FRIDAY. HAVE A SNEAKING SUSPICION THAT THE AIR MASS WILL BE COOLER AND MORE PERSISTENT THAN THE GFS WOULD SUGGEST...BUT HAVE GONE WITH A COMPROMISE OF THE TWO MODELS AT THIS TIME. STAY TUNED FOR CHANGES TO THE POPS AND TEMPS AS MODELS THIS NEXT FRONT TAKES SHAPE. NF && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. && 11/08
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 6, 8:06 PM CST, 4 hours 54 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 906 PM CDT SAT SEP 6 2014 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-071100- CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB- HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON- GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH- 906 PM CDT SAT SEP 6 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. AREAS OF FOG MAY REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN A MILE ACROSS PARTS OF THE PANHANDLES OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS MUCH OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES TUESDAY AND AGAIN WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ANY STORMS THAT FORM ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LEVELS...THOUGH HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS MAY OCCUR WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. KB
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Dense Fog, Randall
- When
- September 7, 1:00 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
- Where
- Randall forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
- Coordinates
- 34.966, -101.897 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Quarter mile visibility at Amarillo.
What these are
- Dense Fog
- Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in Georgia, September 7, 2014
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Nevada, September 7 to 9, 2014
- Flash Flooding in California, September 7 to 9, 2014
- Flash Flood in Florida, September 7, 2014
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Arizona, September 7 to 8, 2014
- Tornado and Flash Flood in South Carolina, September 7, 2014
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, September 7, 2014
- Flooding and Strong Wind in North Carolina, September 7 to 8, 2014
- Damaging Winds in Wyoming, September 7, 2014
- Hail in South Dakota, September 7, 2014
- Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Arizona, September 7 to 8, 2014
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, September 7, 2014
More
Every storm in Texas in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, September 2014
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: 540021, 540022.