An approaching weather system interacted with a moist and unstable environment over the Texas Panhandle resulting in one of the most significant severe weather episodes of the 2015 spring season. The majority of the severe weather occurred across the eastern half of the Panhandle.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
An approaching weather system interacted with a moist and unstable environment over the Texas Panhandle resulting in one of the most significant severe weather episodes of the 2015 spring season. The majority of the severe weather occurred across the eastern half of the Panhandle. Numerous hail events occurred with hail up to the size of baseballs and slightly larger occurring in the most intense supercell thunderstorms. In some cases storms were very efficient hail producers and accumulation of hail several inches deep occurred. A total of six tornadoes were identified by storm spotters, storm chasers, public officials and through official National Weather Service damage surveys.
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 Apr 16, 12:01 PM CST, 53 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 101 PM CDT THU APR 16 2015 .UPDATE... UPDATED FOR 18Z AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .AVIATION.../18Z TAFS/ VCSH AND EVENTUALLY VCTS WILL MOSTLY IMPACT KAMA AND KGUY THROUGH 05Z WITH THE BEST TIME FRAME FOR TS BEING 20Z-00Z. AT THIS TIME...TOO DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT A TS OCCURRENCE ALTHOUGH IF ONE OCCURS AT TAF SITE...WIND GUSTS OVER 40KTS AND SMALL HAIL WOULD BE POSSIBLE AS WELL AS LOWER VISIBILITIES WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL. THINK TS WILL MOVE OFF TO THE EAST BY 00Z...WHICH IS WHERE BEST CHANCES FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE. MVFR/IFR CEILINGS WILL DEVELOP AFTER 04Z...MAINLY AT KAMA AND KGUY WITH CEILINGS MIXING OUT BY 13Z. KH && .DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1150 AM CDT THU APR 16 2015/ UPDATE... WE WILL PERFORM A SPECIAL BALLOON RELEASE AT 18Z. INITIAL CONCERN IS WEAK COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE WESTERN PANHANDLES AND ONGOING CLOUDS/SHOWERS IN THAT AREA. FURTHER EAST WITH LESS CLOUD COVER SURFACE DIABATIC HEATING AND SOUTHEASTERLY LOW LEVEL MOIST ADVECTION IS OCCURING. 12Z OBSERVED KAMA SOUNDING MODIFIED FOR EXPECTED AFTERNOON TEMPERATURE YIELDS MODERATE SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY. ONE OF THE BIGGEST UNCERTAINTIES NOW IS TO WHAT DEGREE WE MIX OUT AND IMPLICATIONS THAT WILL HAVE FOR INSTABILITY. MOISTURE IS PROBABLY QUITE SHALLOW BUT MODEL FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOW DEEPENING WITH TIME. LATEST WEST TEXAS MESONET OBS SHOW LOW 60 DEGREE SURFACE DEW POINTS UP STREAM IMPINGING ON THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA. RAP AND OTHER SHORT RANGE GUIDANCE SEEM TO BE TOO WEAK AND SLIGHTLY MISPLACED WITH SURFACE LOW DEEPENING OVER NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO...HENCE MORE SIGNIFICANT ISOLLOBARIC RESPONSE AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SEEN IN REGIONAL OBSERVATIONS. CURRENT THINKING IS THAT CONVECTION OVER THE WESTERN PANHANDLES WILL CONTINUE TO DEEPEN INTO EARLY AFTERNOON WITH MORE ROBUST CONVECTION EVOLVING OVER THE EASTERN EDGE OF THIS AREA MOVING INTO THE CENTRAL PANHANDLES THROUGH THE EARLY AFTERNOON. ADDITIONAL CONVECTIVE INITIATION MAY OCCUR FURTHER EAST AS WELL. STORM MOTIONS WILL BE NORTHEASTERLY AT AROUND 25 KNOTS. WITH SUCH LOW FREEZING LEVELS AROUND 8500 FEET AND STEEP MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES...LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT ALONG WITH DAMAGING WINDS. THE BEST CHANCE OF A TORNADO WILL BE LATER THIS EVENING AS LOW LEVEL MOIST ADVECTION CONTINUES AND LOW LEVEL JET STRENGTHENS RESULTING IN STRONGER 0-1KM SHEAR. ANOTHER CONCERN IS DURATION. WITH LOW LEVEL THETA-E ADVECTION CONTINUING INTO THE EVENING SO WILL THE THREAT OF CONVECTION. A MARGINAL SEVERE WEATHER THREAT MAY PERSIST INTO THE NIGHT. BRB PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 530 AM CDT THU APR 16 2015/ DISCUSSION... POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING REMAINS PRIMARY ISSUE OF CONCERN WITH THIS FORECAST. CLOSED 500 MB LOW CURRENTLY NEAR 4-CORNERS WILL BE A DOMINATING INFLUENCE ON PANHANDLES WEATHER FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. DYNAMICS FROM THIS SYSTEM HAS CREATED STRONG SOUTHERLY LOW-LEVEL FLOW...AS SEEN IN KAMA VAD WIND PROFILE THROUGH THE NIGHT. INFLUX OF GULF MOISTURE WILL CAUSE ATMOSPHERE TO BECOME INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE BY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STRONG SHEAR EXPECTED TO DEVELOP... PARTICULARLY ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE AREA. SCATTERED TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HAIL TO TENNIS BALL SIZE...GUSTS TO AROUND 70 MPH...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL ALL BE POSSIBLE. POTENTIAL FOR DRY-SLOT TO MOVE INTO WESTERN SECTIONS ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY BEING STRONGLY SUGGESTED BY ALL MODELS. THUS HAVE LOWERED POPS IN WESTERN SECTIONS DURING THIS TIME FRAME. DRYLINE WILL LIKELY SHARPEN SUBSTANTIALLY OVER EASTERN SECTIONS...WITH GOOD PROSPECTS FOR STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS BOTH DAYS. BY SUNDAY...COLD AIR ALOFT WITH DEPARTING CLOSED LOW COULD CAUSE DEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MAINLY NORTH AND NORTHEAST PART OF FORECAST AREA. THUNDERSTORMS BECOME MORE LIKELY MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT AS GULF EXPECTED TO REMAIN OPEN. 03 COCKRELL FIRE WEATHER... ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS MAY BRIEFLY DEVELOP ACROSS THE EXTREME WESTERN PART OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AS DRY SOUTH SOUTHWEST WINDS INCREASE. ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP ON FRIDAY ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE PANHANDLES... PARTICULARLY IN AREAS NOT RECEIVING WETTING RAINS TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO ELEVATED OR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. 03 && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 519 AM CDT THU APR 16 2015 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-162115- CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB- HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON- GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH- 519 AM CDT THU APR 16 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED...WITH THE GREATEST COVERAGE ACROSS EASTERN SECTIONS. SOME STORMS WILL LIKELY BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH HAIL UP TO TENNIS BALL SIZE AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS UP TO 70 MPH. ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE...MAINLY ACROSS THE EASTERN TWO THIRDS OF THE PANHANDLES. ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS MAY BRIEFLY DEVELOP ACROSS THE EXTREME WESTERN PART OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. STRONG TO POTENTIALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS WELL AS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS MAINLY THE EASTERN HALF OF THE PANHANDLES. THE PRIMARY HAZARDS WITH ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL BE HAIL UP TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE AND WIND GUSTS AROUND 60 MPH. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE PANHANDLES SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER DURING THIS TIME IS LOW. ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP ON FRIDAY ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE PANHANDLES...PARTICULARLY IN AREAS NOT RECEIVING WETTING RAINS TODAY AND TONIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AS WELL AS POTENTIALLY ON FRIDAY...AND AGAIN ON SATURDAY. AREA FIRE MANAGERS AND EMERGENCY OFFICIALS ACROSS WESTERN PARTS OF THE PANHANDLES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND ON FRIDAY. COCKRELL
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:55 UTC.
39 hail, 6 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A storm chaser reported baseball size hail 7 miles east-northeast of Borger via Spotter Network.
A trained spotter reported hail covering Highway 759 just east of Spearman. Hail size was estimated to be half dollars.
Quarter size hail was reported at Pantex.
The public reported golf ball size hail at South Western and Loop 335 in Amarillo.
The public measured 1.75 inch diameter hailstones at 46th and Washington in Amarillo.
Quarter size hail at South Buchanan and East 12th in Amarillo.
Broadcast media reported quarter to golf ball size hail at 34th and Washington in Amarillo.
Quarter size hail fell near 31st and South Grand in Amarillo.
Quarter size hail 5 miles north of Lake Tanglewood.
Quarter size hail fell at 58th and Georgia in Amarillo.
Half dollar size hail fell at Interstate 40 and Eastern in Amarillo.
Golf ball size hail was reported at Interstate 40 and Osage in Amarillo.
Meteorologists measured 1.75 inch diameter hail at the National Weather Service Office on English Road, 7 miles east-northeast of Amarillo. Minor damage to vehicles occurred.
A storm chaser reported 2 inch diameter hail 16 miles north-northwest of Codman via Spotter Network.
Law enforcement measured hailstones one inch in diameter at Farm to Market 293 and County Road C, 2 miles north of Pantex.
Ping pong ball size hail was reported 17 miles northwest of Codman in rural west-central Roberts County.
Golf ball size hail reported 23 miles north of Pampa.
Quarter size hail fell in Panhandle, Texas.
Half dollar size hail was observed and measured by an off duty National Weather Service employee at Euclid and 10th in Panhandle, Texas.
Storm chasers observed a non-mesocyclonic tornado near Conway. A National Weather Service damage survey found minor telephone pole damage. A damage rating of EF-0 was assigned to this tornado. Estimated peak winds were 70 mph.
Tennis ball size hail fell 5 miles east-southeast of Panhandle.
Golf ball size hail was reported one mile south of Skellytown.
Large amounts of quarter size hail was reported 9 miles east-southeast of Panhandle, Texas, by a storm chaser via Spotter Network.
Quarter size hail was reported one mile southwest of Pampa.
Quarter size hail was reported at Pampa Airport.
An EF-0 tornado caused minor damage between Boydston Road and Highway 70 south of Pampa. Estimated peak wind was 70 mph.
An EF-0 tornado was video documented northeast of Briscoe. No damage was reported.
A well photographed tornado occurred 5 miles east-southeast of Codman. No damage was reported. A damage rating of EF-0 was assigned to this tornado.
Hail at least 3 inches in diameter was reported on Farm to Market Road 1268.
An EF-0 tornado with winds estimated to have peaked at 80 mph uprooted trees with numerous branches snapped. An old outbuilding was destroyed. Much of the path is rural making it difficult to determine whether or not the path was continuous. This was a well videographed tornado which became rain-wrapped.
A second tornado occurred northeast of Briscoe. Xcel Energy reported damage to power poles. Winds are estimated to have peaked at 80 mph. A damage rating of EF-0 was assigned to this tornado.
Golf ball size hail was reported 5 miles northwest of Allison.
Quarter size hail was reported 8 miles north-northwest of Allison.
A storm chaser measured 3 1/3 inch diameter hailstones 2 miles northeast of Allison.
Hail 1.75 inch to 2 inch diameter was reported in Kellerville.
A storm chaser estimated 65 mph wind in Kellerville.
Quarter size hail was reported at Lelia Lake.
Golf ball size hail was reported 6 miles west of Wheeler.
Quarter size hail fell in McLean.
Ping pong ball size hail was reported on Highway 83 by a storm chaser.
Golf ball size hail fell in Wheeler.
Tennis ball size hail was reported 2 miles east-northeast of Wheeler by a storm chaser.
Quarter size hail was reported in Wheeler.
Nickel to quarter size hail was reported in Panhandle.
Golf ball size hail was reported one mile northeast of Pampa.
Hail up to golf ball size was reported at the Gray County rest area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2015Warnings in Texas, April 2015
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: 572777, 572770, 572771, 572792, 572795, 572774, 572775, 572793, 572773, 572780, 572794, 572778, 572776, 572830, 572781, 572783, 572787, 572784, 572796, 572835, 572797, 572798, 572799, 572806, 572807, 572836, 572840, 572839, 572808, 572837, 572843, 572810, 572816, 572819, 572811, 572813, 572815, 572814, 572817, 572820, and more.