Texas, 2020

Winter Weather in Texas, January 16 to 17, 2020

January 16 to 17, 2020 · NWS AMA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

20 inch. Icy roads were reported across all counties of the Texas Panhandle.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
1
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

A prolonged period of intermittent light freezing rain and freezing drizzle across the Texas Panhandle resulted in ice accumulations as high as 0.20 inch. Icy roads were reported across all counties of the Texas Panhandle. A few reports of traffic accidents were received from the northeast and north-central Texas Panhandle, namely at Canadian in Hemphill County and near Spearman in Hansford County. One accident in Amarillo resulted in death and injury.

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 Jan 16, 5:54 AM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 16, 5:54 AM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 16, 4:10 AM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Randall County

When
January 16, 8:15 AM CST to January 17, 5:00 AM CST
Where
Randall County forecast zone
Deaths
0 direct, 1 indirect
Injuries
0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
34.966, -101.897 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Freezing rain caused some areas of ice on some streets and roadways. In Amarillo, around 08:22, the ice on a bridge and speed led to a driver losing control of her vehicle, which slid into oncoming traffic, colliding into another car. The driver of the first car died at the scene of the accident. The driver of the second vehicle was taken to a local hospital with what was initially believed to be life-threatening injuries.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Winter Weather, Randall County2020-01-1618FemaleOutside/Open AreasIndirect

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2020

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: 870889.