A cold front moved through the combined Panhandles from north to south on the evening of June 21st. There was enough wind shear, instability and daytime heating to allow for thunderstorms to develop.
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.
A cold front moved through the combined Panhandles from north to south on the evening of June 21st. There was enough wind shear, instability and daytime heating to allow for thunderstorms to develop. Some of these storms were severe with damaging winds being the primary hazard.
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 21, 5:53 PM CST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Amarillo TX 653 PM CDT Sun Jun 21 2026 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Issued at 218 PM CDT Sun Jun 21 2026 - Strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible this evening into the morning hours of Monday, mainly for the northern combined Panhandles for large hail and damaging winds. - Daily thunderstorm chances continues through most of next week, varying in coverage, especially in the evening and overnight hours. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Monday night) Issued at 218 PM CDT Sun Jun 21 2026 Latest 18Z satellite obs shows a subtle perturbation in the mean H500 flow westerly flow moving southeasterly through NM towards the NW Panhandles. Closer to the surface, the first surface cold front have moved south through the Caprock counties of the TX Panhandle, with a weak sfc low developing in the NE TX Panhandle. With south/southeast surface flow in the far eastern TX counties and the main H850 front still draped east of the sfc low will be the first focal point of storms developing later this afternoon. The main axis of (+)H700 theta-e advection should expand NE from SE TX Panhandle into western OK. This will result in the far eastern TX Panhandle having the highest chances (20-30%) of seeing storms along the second frontal boundary moving south before sunset. Large hail and damaging winds will be thew main hazards. A second wave from either established convection moving south into the Panhandles and/or elevated convection developing in the wake of the front, downstream of a mid level perturbation, could be strong to severe later tonight into early Monday morning. The areas favored would be the eastern Panhandles. For Monday, another round of potential strong to severe thunderstorms are possible for the Panhandles. Still in the wake of the front, plenty of 1000-1500 MLCAPE is still present. Any retreat of the main cold front and/or cold pools or old sfc boundary may help to generate convection in the area. Large hail will be the main hazard for thunderstorms that develop, given its source of any elevated lift. After high temperatures today in the 90s and 100-105 in the far southern Texas Panhandle, high temperatures on Monday in the wake of the front will range from the lower to upper 80s. && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday through next Saturday) Issued at 218 PM CDT Sun Jun 21 2026 Daily H500 WNW flow, with a series of mid level disturbances moving over the NM/CO high terrain will provide daily chances for thunderstorms for the Panhandles. Not everyone will see rain chances daily, as the main steering flow aloft and its axis of orientation will help to determine how southeast into the Panhandles the areas of rain will reach. Highest chances for storms daily will be the northern and northeastern combined Panhandles, with lowest chances in the SW Texas Panhandle at this time. High temperatures will continue to be above average as we go into late June. && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 636 PM CDT Sun Jun 21 2026 Mentions of thunder have been removed from KGUY given the latest downtrend of precipitation chances for our area tonight. Most of the activity later tonight looks to impact areas east of the terminal. MVFR ceilings should still affect KAMA tomorrow morning, for a few hours, but should clear out by 17Z. Surface winds will stay light this evening until the next cold front arrives. Winds will become breezy and northeasterly after the front moves through. Rangel && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...Heat Advisory until 9 PM CDT this evening for TXZ017>020-317. OK...None. && SHORT TERM...29 LONG TERM....29 AVIATION...55
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Amarillo TX 242 PM CDT Sun Jun 21 2026 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-317-220745- 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- 242 PM CDT Sun Jun 21 2026 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight. A Heat Advisory is in effect for portions of the southern Texas Panhandle, including Palo Duro Canyon for temperatures around 105 degrees. There is a low chance for severe thunderstorms this evening through tonight. The main threats from these storms will be large hail and damaging winds. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday. Daily potential for thunderstorms Monday through Saturday. Strong to severe thunderstorms cannot be ruled out. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated at this time.
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:27 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 200 ft radio communications tower was destroyed above 50 feet.
Wind gusts of 60 mph occurred in Beaver. This was estimated by the local county emergency manager but nearby mesonets confirmed gusts were in the 50 to 60 mph range.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, June 2026
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: 1339601, 1339602.