Thunderstorms brought severe wind gusts to portions of the Texas Panhandle during the afternoon and evening of the 17th. Wind gusts as high as around 70 mph occurred across mainly the southwest and south-central 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.
Thunderstorms brought severe wind gusts to portions of the Texas Panhandle during the afternoon and evening of the 17th. Wind gusts as high as around 70 mph occurred across mainly the southwest and south-central Panhandle.
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 Jul 17, 2:53 PM CST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 353 PM CDT FRI JUL 17 2015 .DISCUSSION... UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AXIS SHIFTING A BIT FURTHER EAST...AND A WEAK SHORTWAVE COMBINED WITH A SMALL AREA OF SURFACE CONVERGENCE IS LIKELY KICKING OFF THE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE THIS AFTERNOON. DEWPOINTS IN THE MID 60S TO LOW 70S ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN PANHANDLES COULD ALSO ENCOURAGE A FEW STORMS TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES PUSH EAST. STORMS THIS AFTERNOON COULD APPROACH STRONG TO MARGINALLY SEVERE. FORECAST BULK SHEAR VALUES APPROACH 30 TO 40KTS OVER THE WESTERN CWA THIS EVENING...AND COULD SUPPORT SOME LONGER LIVED STORMS. LOW LEVEL JET IS ALSO EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AGAIN TONIGHT WHICH COULD HELP STORMS PERSIST INTO THE FIRST PART OF THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. UPPER LEVEL RIDGING STRENGTHENS SOME TOMORROW BUT REMAINS CENTERED TO THE EAST. HAVE KEPT THE FORECAST DRY FOR SATURDAY AS A RESULT OF EXPECTED HEIGHT RISES. SOME DIFFERENCES ARISE ON SUNDAY WITH THE STRENGTH OF THE RIDGE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A SHORTWAVE RIDING ALONG THE PERIPHERY OF THE RIDGE. A WEAK COLD FRONT ALSO IS EXPECTED TO CROSS THE WESTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE AND HAVE ADDED CHANCE POPS MAINLY TO THAT REGION. BEYOND SUNDAY...THE RIDGE WEAKENS SLIGHTLY...AND A CHANCE REMAINS FOR THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING AS UPPER LEVEL FLOW REMAINS SOUTHWEST TO WEST. SLIGHT CHANCE TO CHANCE POPS WILL LIKELY VARY SOME ACROSS THE PANHANDLES AS THE TIME APPROACHES...BUT FOR NOW HAVE NARROWED TO MOST LIKELY LOCATIONS. BEYOND WEDNESDAY...UPPER LEVEL RIDGING IS EXPECTED TO BUILD WEST AGAIN AND DRIER WEATHER RETURNS TO THE AREA FOR A FEW DAYS. ELSENHEIMER && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AMARILLO TX 70 97 71 97 70 / 20 10 10 20 20 BEAVER OK 73 102 73 96 70 / 30 10 10 20 30 BOISE CITY OK 67 97 67 90 64 / 20 10 10 20 30 BORGER TX 73 100 75 98 72 / 30 5 10 20 20 BOYS RANCH TX 70 100 72 98 70 / 20 5 10 20 20 CANYON TX 69 97 70 97 69 / 20 5 10 10 20 CLARENDON TX 71 97 72 98 72 / 20 5 5 10 10 DALHART TX 67 99 68 94 67 / 20 10 10 20 30 GUYMON OK 71 101 71 95 69 / 30 10 10 20 30 HEREFORD TX 68 97 69 98 68 / 20 5 10 10 20 LIPSCOMB TX 74 100 74 98 72 / 30 5 10 20 30 PAMPA TX 70 96 72 96 70 / 20 5 10 20 20 SHAMROCK TX 71 98 72 99 72 / 20 5 5 10 20 WELLINGTON TX 72 99 72 101 73 / 10 5 5 5 10 && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. && 17/18
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 319 PM CDT FRI JUL 17 2015 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-180830- CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB- HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON- GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH- 319 PM CDT FRI JUL 17 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A FEW STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG TO MARGINALLY SEVERE...WITH WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH...SMALL HAIL...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN THE PRIMARY HAZARDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS AT LEAST PORTIONS OF THE PANHANDLES SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THIS PERIOD...ALTHOUGH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...GUSTY WINDS...AND SMALL HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH SOME STRONGER STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. ELSENHEIMER
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
320 PM CDT FRI JUL 17 2015
TXZ016-172045-
DEAF SMITH TX-
320 PM CDT FRI JUL 17 2015
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EASTERN DEAF SMITH COUNTY UNTIL
345 PM CDT...
AT 318 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
WILDORADO TO NEAR HEREFORD...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS...ALONG WITH
HEAVY RAIN.
* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
HEREFORD... DAWN...
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 3474 10251 3475 10251 3518 10243 3519 10241
3518 10217 3475 10217
TIME...MOT...LOC 2019Z 237DEG 18KT 3515 10230 3487 10236
BRBSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 357 PM CDT FRI JUL 17 2015 TXZ012-017-172130- POTTER TX-RANDALL TX- 357 PM CDT FRI JUL 17 2015 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR WESTERN RANDALL AND WESTERN POTTER COUNTIES UNTIL 430 PM CDT... AT 355 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 9 MILES SOUTH OF VALLEY DE ORO TO 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF UMBARGER...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH AND HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS...ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN. * LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... CANYON... AMARILLO... UMBARGER... VALLEY DE ORO... BUSHLAND... TIMBERCREEK CANYON... 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 3489 10217 3548 10216 3562 10177 3500 10180 TIME...MOT...LOC 2057Z 231DEG 24KT 3533 10211 3500 10215 BRB
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:55 UTC.
6 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph occurred at the KVII schoolnet site located 3 miles north of Dawn.
Tree and power pole damage was reported from the intersections of Helium Road and Rockwell Road to the intersection of Soncy and FM 2219.
A thunderstorm wind gust of 59 mph occurred at the KVII schoolnet site at Midway Alternative High School 5 miles west-northwest of Timber Creek Canyon.
A wind gust of 60 mph was measured by the West Texas Mesonet site located 4 miles north-northwest of Lake Tanglewood, or 7 miles south-southeast of Amarillo.
A wind gust of 71 mph was measured by the KVII mesonet site located 3 miles east of Bushland at Oasis RV Resort.
A wind gust of 61 mph was measured by the KVII schoolnet site at Bushland High School.
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, July 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: 597021, 597020, 597023, 597024, 597025, 597026.