A strong cold front moved quickly southeast across the Texas Panhandle. Strong north winds developed in its wake late on the 2nd and continued into the early morning hours of the 3rd.
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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 strong cold front moved quickly southeast across the Texas Panhandle. Strong north winds developed in its wake late on the 2nd and continued into the early morning hours of the 3rd. Sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph were common. A wind gust of 60 mph occurred at Dumas, Texas, and this was the strongest wind gust in the Texas Panhandle for this wind event.
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 2, 10:04 PM CST, 2 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1104 PM CDT THU APR 2 2015
.AVIATION...
STRONG COLD FRONT IS APPROACHING KGUY AND KDHT AND A SUDDEN INCREASE
IN WIND SPEEDS BEHIND THE COLD FRONT WILL OCCUR BY 05Z WITH GUSTS TO
AROUND 45 KNOTS EXPECTED FROM THE NORTH. GUSTS TO AT LEAST 40 KNOTS
WILL REACH KAMA AS THE FRONT PASSES AROUND 07Z OR SHORTLY AFTER.
NORTHERLY WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE OVERNIGHT AT ALL SITES BUT
GUSTS OVER 30 KNOTS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE MORNING. MVFR STRATUS IS
LIKELY AFTER THE FRONT PASSES...LASTING THROUGH INTO THE MORNING. VFR
CONDITIONS WILL RETURN BY AFTERNOON.
BRB
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 636 PM CDT THU APR 2 2015/
DISCUSSION...
A COLD FRONT WILL ROLL THROUGH THE PANHANDLES LATE TONIGHT AND
EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. STRONG COLD AIR ADVECTION ALONG WITH LOW
LEVEL LIFT AND UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENCE MAY BE ENOUGH TO SET OFF
SOME LIGHT SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTH AFTER MIDNIGHT. SO WILL
CONTINUE WITH POPS THERE. HIGHS ON FRIDAY WILL BE LINKED TO HOW
MUCH CLOUD COVER WE HAVE AND HOW LOW IT IS. IF CLOUDS CLEAR OUT
QUICKER...THEN THE HIGHS MAY NEED TO BE BUMPED UP. IF WE STAY
SOCKED IN WITH LOWER CLOUDS...THEN OUR MID 50S TO MID 60S MAY BE
OPTIMISTIC.
STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS WILL BE QUICKLY REPLACED BY BREEZY
SOUTHWEST WINDS ON SATURDAY AS A NEW LEE-SIDE TROUGH DEVELOPS TO
OUR WEST. TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO REBOUND SOME. HOWEVER...
TEMPERATURES COULD DROP TO AROUND FREEZING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST
HALF OF THE CWA EARLY SATURDAY MORNING AS WINDS WEAKEN JUST
ENOUGH IN BETWEEN THE TWO BOUTS OF STRONGER WINDS. WE DID ADD A
SMALL SLIVER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO OUR EXTREME SOUTHEAST
ZONES ON EASTER. MOISTURE ADVECTION ALONG WITH A WEAK UPPER LEVEL
SHORT WAVE TROUGH MAY HELP TO KICK OFF SOME ACTIVITY.
A SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL KEEP A LEE-SIDE TROUGH IN PLACE ACROSS
THE SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. AS THE UPPER LEVEL
TROUGH TO OUR WEST APPROACHES...A COLD FRONT WILL SLIP THROUGH THE
PANHANDLES TUESDAY MORNING. THIS FRONT MAY ONLY SLOWLY PUSH SOUTH OF
OUR AREA OR MAY EVEN HANG UP IN OUR AREA FOR A DAY OR SO. THIS MAY
PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT BY MID WEEK
IF AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE CAN MOVE ACROSS THE REGION AROUND THE
SAME TIME. AT THIS POINT...WILL NOT ADD ANY CHANCE OF RAIN AS THE
PROSPECTS OF THINGS COMING TOGETHER LOOK SLIM.
FIRE WEATHER...
ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS MAY RETURN SATURDAY AND EASTER.
ELEVATED TO CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND ON MONDAY
AHEAD OF THE NEXT COLD FRONT IF THE WINDS ARE STRONG ENOUGH.
&&
.AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 1 PM CDT FRIDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
ARMSTRONG...CARSON...COLLINGSWORTH...DALLAM...DEAF SMITH...
DONLEY...GRAY...HANSFORD...HARTLEY...HEMPHILL...
HUTCHINSON...LIPSCOMB...MOORE...OCHILTREE...OLDHAM...
POTTER...RANDALL...ROBERTS...SHERMAN...WHEELER.
OK...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 1 PM CDT FRIDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
BEAVER...CIMARRON...TEXAS.
&&
11/17HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 1038 PM CDT THU APR 2 2015 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-031100- CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB- HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON- GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH- 1038 PM CDT THU APR 2 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. STRONG NORTH WINDS BEHIND A COLD FRONT TONIGHT WILL INCREASE TO AROUND 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 45 TO 50 MPH. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE PANHANDLES TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. STRONG NORTH WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 45 TO 50 MPH FRIDAY MORNING BEHIND A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE UNTIL ABOUT 1 PM FRIDAY AFTERNOON. A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES UNTIL 1 PM FRIDAY AFTERNOON. ELEVATED TO NEAR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MOST OF THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES ON SATURDAY ...SUNDAY...AND MONDAY DUE TO STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. AREA FIRE MANAGERS AND EMERGENCY OFFICIALS ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR ELEVATED OR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS EARLY THIS EVENING...AND THEN AGAIN SATURDAY...SUNDAY...AND MONDAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust of 60 mph was recorded at the Automated Weather Observing System located at Dumas Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 572711.