At least some portion of the western Oklahoma Panhandle had been in Severe Drought (D2) since November of 2019. After the drought worsened and peaked in June, significant improvement occurred across the central and eastern portions of the Oklahoma Panhandle in July where monsoon rainfall led to 150 to 300 percent above normal rainfall.
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.
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.
At least some portion of the western Oklahoma Panhandle had been in Severe Drought (D2) since November of 2019. After the drought worsened and peaked in June, significant improvement occurred across the central and eastern portions of the Oklahoma Panhandle in July where monsoon rainfall led to 150 to 300 percent above normal rainfall. This equated to rainfall of 1 to 4 inches above normal for the month and significant drought improvement in those areas. However, some of the western Oklahoma Panhandle experienced only 50 to 75 percent of normal rainfall in July which lead to additional deficits of 1-2 inches for the month. Given this, Extreme Drought (D3) persisted in parts of the far western Oklahoma 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 Jun 30, 11:14 PM CST, 46 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Amarillo TX 1214 AM CDT Wed Jul 1 2020 .AVIATION...06z TAFS... VFR conditions will prevail at all TAF sites with winds out of the northwest and shifting northeast at or below 10kts. Few high clouds to mostly clear skies expected. Weber && .PREV DISCUSSION... /Issued 258 PM CDT Tue Jun 30 2020/ SHORT TERM...Today through Wednesday night... Current satellite and model analysis depicts a mid to upper level negatively tilted trough running southeast from British Columbia, Canada down into MT, WY, and CO. Flow aloft over the FA is weak and southwest as the area is just outside the base of the trough. A secondary low pressure system is located in the northeast CONUS and high pressure is located over the Texas Gulf Coast. Going into Wednesday evening the high pressure down south is progged build over most of Texas and Oklahoma into the FA to include Kansas. Flow aloft will become weak and varied with this high pressure. Today, the FA continues to see hot temperatures in the upper 90s to low 100s. There will be a slight cooling into temps tomorrow by a degree or three as a weak cold front passes through the area overnight tonight. The winds will be light behind the front with no precipitation expected. There will be a slight recovery in dewpoints with relative humidities rebounding. For tomorrow, Wednesday, high temperatures will be mainly in the upper 90s with a few location in the Canadian River Valley and off the Caprock in the low 100s. Winds will be out of the north 10 mph or less while veering to the east and southeast later in the day. Overnight lows both tonight and tomorrow night will mainly be in the low to mid 60s with the exception of the far eastern Texas Panhandle. Hoffeditz LONG TERM...Thursday through Monday After building to our east, upper level ridging will retrograde westward and strengthen late this week as western CONUS troughing abates and the main branch of the jet shifts back north. By Sat night, a solid 594 dm h5 high is expected to be positioned over srn AZ with the Panhandles in weak nrly flow aloft. In the low levels, a belt of relatively moist air with both GOMEX and ern Pacific contributions will lay out over the area. Isolated to scattered storms are expected, favoring the afternoon hours for much of this period. Strong and/or severe weather should not be widespread. Thursday... The aforementioned upr level high should come directly overhead by Thu night, though it doesn't look overly beefy at that time. A weak shrtwv looks to ride the western periphery of the ridge Thu afternoon and this could allow a storm or 2 to fire. The better thermodynamic set ups look to be south and east of the Panhandles, and storms may fire in those locations and send a breezy outflow through the TX Panhandle Thu evening. Highs Thu are still expected to be above normal in the mid 90s to near 100. Friday through Monday... Isolated storms are possible Fri through Sun as upr ridging sets up to our west and just enough instability builds to allow some afternoon convection. Severe weather can't be completely ruled out but should be very sporadic if any due to weak mid level lapse rates and weak shear. Highs will be cooler than recent highs, but with increased moisture and less wind, it will probably still feel about the same. Simpson && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Amarillo TX 68 96 69 93 67 / 0 10 20 20 20 Beaver OK 68 100 68 97 66 / 5 10 10 10 20 Boise City OK 63 98 65 96 64 / 0 10 10 20 20 Borger TX 71 103 71 99 69 / 0 10 10 20 20 Boys Ranch TX 67 101 69 98 67 / 0 10 10 20 20 Canyon TX 68 95 68 93 67 / 0 20 20 20 20 Clarendon TX 70 97 70 94 68 / 0 20 20 20 20 Dalhart TX 64 98 66 95 64 / 0 10 10 20 20 Guymon OK 67 101 67 97 66 / 0 10 10 20 20 Hereford TX 68 96 68 95 67 / 0 20 20 20 20 Lipscomb TX 70 100 69 97 68 / 5 10 10 20 20 Pampa TX 69 98 69 95 67 / 0 10 10 20 20 Shamrock TX 71 98 71 95 69 / 0 20 20 20 20 Wellington TX 71 101 72 97 69 / 0 20 20 20 20 && .AMA Watches/Warnings/Advisories... TX...None. OK...None. && 89/11/99
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED National Weather Service Amarillo TX 802 PM CDT Tue Jun 30 2020 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-317-011100- Cimarron-Texas-Beaver-Dallam-Sherman-Hansford-Ochiltree-Lipscomb- Hartley-Moore-Hutchinson-Roberts-Hemphill-Oldham-Potter-Carson- Gray-Wheeler-Deaf Smith-Randall-Armstrong-Donley-Collingsworth- Palo Duro Canyon- 802 PM CDT Tue Jun 30 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. .DAY ONE...Tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday. Thunderstorms are possible Thursday through Monday. A few storms could become strong to severe. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Most of the county was experiencing extreme drought (D3) early in July. Beneficial rainfall improved drought conditions in the south, although abnormally dry (D0) to moderate drought remained (D1). Extreme drought (D3) persisted through July across the far north where less rainfall occurred.
Most of the county was experiencing severe drought (D2) while there was a portion in the northwest, northeast and southeast that were in extreme drought (D3) heading into July. There was even a very small area, probably only about 1% of the county that was in exceptional drought (D4) in the far northwest initially. Beneficial monsoon rainfall developed and increase around the third week of July and continued through the end of the month. Rainfall in Goodwell was well above normal by the end of the month with 6.77 inches of precipitation measured. Guymon's monthly precipitation came in at 5.17 inches. Most of the county had reduced its drought severity by 2 categories. By the end of the month, most of the county had improved to abnormally dry (D0) status with the area between Texhoma, Goodwell, and Guymon were completely removed from all drought categories.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, July 2020
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: 911635, 913515.