A stalled surface boundary and weak upper level disturbance worked together to form severe storms over the northwest to central Texas Panhandle. A strongly unstable atmosphere along with favorable wind shear was in place, which supported strong damaging winds and very large hail from thunderstorms that developed.
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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 stalled surface boundary and weak upper level disturbance worked together to form severe storms over the northwest to central Texas Panhandle. A strongly unstable atmosphere along with favorable wind shear was in place, which supported strong damaging winds and very large hail from thunderstorms that developed. Storms developed over the central Texas Panhandle and initially produced small hail and heavy rain, but a few storms grew stronger and produced damaging winds that resulted in some downed power poles. Another later round of storms affected the far northwest Texas Panhandle and produced hail up to tennis ball size and 70mph wind gusts.
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 Sep 17, 12:33 PM CST, 1 hour 41 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Amarillo TX 133 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025 ...New KEY MESSAGES, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM... .KEY MESSAGES... Issued at 130 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025 - Slight chance of severe thunderstorms is present Wednesday afternoon and evening with highest chances seen in the Northwestern Panhandles. - High chances for rain and thunderstorms are forecasted for Wednesday and Thursday with the highest chances for rain on Wednesday evening into the night. - Slightly cooler temperatures in the 70s to low 80s are expected Thursday due to cloud cover and a cold frontal passage. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Thursday night) Issued at 130 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025 As of early this afternoon, latest radar and satellite was seeing a remnant outflow boundary slowly moving across the Southeastern Panhandles. This boundary has been allowing for weak showers and thunderstorms to develop off of it and move into Eastern Panhandles. Meanwhile directly behind it, satellite and surface observations are already seeing the cold frontal boundary drift south into the Central Panhandles. This early progression of the front will need to be watch as many of the CAMs expect this boundary to stall on a very evident pocket of dry air present in the 700mb theta E and act as a lifting mechanism for our first round of storms. This round of showers and thunderstorms, while not the main show for today, does still have the potential to produce strong to severe thunderstorms with the primary threat being wind gusts up to 60 mph. Moving into this evening, most CAMs see a decent vorticity max push into the Northern Panhandles. The combination of this max and topography to our west will be the main drivers of our evening round of showers and thunderstorms. As it stands this round of storms is looking to be our best chances for severe thunderstorms with latest CAMs seeing potential for discrete supercells to develop. Impact wise, present CAM runs have seen MLCAPE range from around 1500 to 2000 J/kg with MUCAPE peaking around 2500 J/kg. These values would be enough to see large hail present for the day with decent effective bilk wind shear capable of keeping cells maintained. What has been concerning is that quite a few model soundings have depicted decent directional wind shear in the lower levels. While the latest HRRR has back off on the speed in this profile, it is still enough of a sign that the threat of tornadoes can’t be ruled out. Moving into this evening and overnight hours has many of the CAMs seeing this activity congeal under the compression of the front ahead of it and a pocket of dry air behind it. This pocket will then force activity to push south and east during the overnight period, while generating heavy rainfall for the Panhandles. It is during this time that rainfall could add up to the point that localized flooding may become a concern by Thursday morning. Activity does look to wane as we progress through Thursday, but 10 to 30% chance do remain clear through the evening. Otherwise, look for cooler temperatures to be present with much of the Panhandles in the 70s to low 80s. && .LONG TERM... (Friday through next Tuesday) Issued at 130 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025 With model agreement seeing the exit of the closed low to our far north Thursday, the present northwesterly flow does begin to lessen for the Panhandles. However, the combination of a new ridge starting to build over the Western Untied State and a series of short-waves does keep the potential for active weather present clear through the weekend. At this time activity for Friday is on the lower end with most guidance only seeing a 10 to 20% chance of actually seeing showers or thunderstorms. Meanwhile, model are seeing a much better short-wave move through Saturday that may be able to interact with the still present moisture better, especially in the east where current guidance is giving closer to a 30% chance that afternoon. Otherwise, these chances do start to wane as we move into the new week, with present model agreement seeing the ridge start to strengthen. As for temperatures, look for them to slightly rebound from the cold front with temperatures return to the mid-80s by Friday. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1240 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025 As of this afternoon, latest satellite was watching the frontal boundary slowly move into Central Panhandles. This boundary is expected to stall and be our lifting mechanism for our first round of storms later this afternoon, which has a potential to impact KAMA through this evening. This will be follow by a secondary round of showers and thunderstorms out of the northwest later this evening that will have much better chances of impacting all three terminals. KDHT is expected to have the best chances of seeing impacts fist with worst case scenario seeing large hail and damaging wind up to 70 mph. If the latest CAM runs are correct, then this activity is expected to slowly congeal during the nighttime hours before heading south towards KAMA. While the threat of hail will start to diminish by then, these storms will likely still be capable of producing heavy rainfall that will reduce visibility. This activity is likely to be present through the overnight, but confidence in it staying over the terminals is low at this time. && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. OK...None. && SHORT TERM...11 LONG TERM....11 AVIATION...11
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Amarillo TX 137 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-317-180645- 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- 137 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight. Severe thunderstorms remain possible this afternoon and evening with highest chances present in the Northwest Panhandles. At this time primary threat is focused on large hail and damaging winds. Meanwhile, a very low chances for tornadoes is present as well, with storms potentially lingering through the overnight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Thunderstorm chances continue each day Thursday through Monday for portions of the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. The potential for severe storms remains low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated at this time.
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Amarillo TX
1229 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0426 PM Hail 2 S Gate 36.82N 100.06W
08/18/2025 E1.75 Inch Beaver OK CO-OP Observer
&&
PAVSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Amarillo TX
128 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025
TXZ009-010-171900-
Hemphill TX-Roberts TX-
128 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT EAST CENTRAL ROBERTS AND WEST
CENTRAL HEMPHILL COUNTIES THROUGH 200 PM CDT...
At 128 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 5
miles north of Lora, or 10 miles northeast of Miami, moving northeast
at 10 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and half inch hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.
This storm will remain over mainly rural areas of east central
Roberts and west central Hemphill Counties.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
&&
LAT...LON 3575 10057 3583 10063 3593 10049 3580 10036
TIME...MOT...LOC 1828Z 236DEG 10KT 3583 10055
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH
Vanden BoschSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Amarillo TX
257 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025
TXZ012>014-018-019-172045-
Gray TX-Potter TX-Donley TX-Carson TX-Armstrong TX-
257 PM CDT Wed Sep 17 2025
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT NORTHERN ARMSTRONG...CARSON...
SOUTHWESTERN GRAY...SOUTHEASTERN POTTER AND NORTHWESTERN DONLEY
COUNTIES THROUGH 345 PM CDT...
At 257 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along
a line extending from 10 miles northeast of Amarillo to 9 miles north
of Washburn to 5 miles southwest of White Deer. Movement was east at
25 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph and pea size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Amarillo, Panhandle, Claude, White Deer, Groom, Lake Mcclellan,
Washburn, and Pantex.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with these storms and may lead
to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
&&
LAT...LON 3510 10155 3516 10163 3518 10163 3518 10166
3536 10190 3546 10157 3552 10115 3534 10067
3503 10107
TIME...MOT...LOC 1957Z 283DEG 20KT 3533 10176 3531 10158 3540 10126
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN
MAX WIND GUST...55 MPH
SSThe Amarillo radar (KAMA), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:13 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds knocked down eight power poles near County Road M and 14.
A road northwest of Washburn was flooded with an estimated two to three feet of standing water across it. A truck was stalled in the water and lawns and driveways had water ponded on them.
A supercell thunderstorm moved across Texline and brought large hail of 2.25 inches to 2.5 inches across the city.
A 71mph wind gust was measured at the mesonet site located two miles north of Texline. This gust was followed by a 65mph and 60mph wind gust as well.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, September 2025
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: 1294436, 1294438, 1294433, 1294437.