Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Armstrong, Texas

2021-02-14 to 2021-02-15 · Armstrong, Texas

Event narrative

Around 0500 CST on the 14th, Armstrong County saw wind chill values drop to -15F to -30F, which lasted until around 0800 CST on the 15th. Winds reached speeds of 15 to 25 mph while temperatures were near of below 0F. The coldest ambient temperature came in at -11F which was recorded by 3 different West Texas mesonet sites across the county on the morning of the 15th. The official climate site at the Amarillo Airport set a new daily record low for the 15th with a temperature of -11F. Although this period between the 14th and 15th was the most dangerously cold period, the county went 188 hours straight with below freezing temperatures, or about 7-8 days. This was the 6th longest stretch below freezing on record (ending February 18th) for Amarillo, TX. Amarillo's records date back to 1892.

Wider weather episode

A historic outbreak of arctic air resulted in record breaking cold temperatures during an extreme cold spell that lasted almost two weeks for some locations across the combined Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. The cold air moved over the northeastern combined Panhandles as early as Feb 8th, and spread southwest through Feb 12th, engulfing most of the southern plains by Feb 13th. The northeast Panhandles remained below freezing for 12 days straight while the southwest Panhandles were below freezing for a full week or more. Periods of flurries and freezing fog also occurred mainly in the overnight and morning periods almost each day Feb 8th through Feb 18th. In addition, two storm systems interacted with the arctic air to produce several inches of snow, not only across the Panhandles but across most of the Great Plains, including almost the entire state of Texas and surrounding states.

The frigid arctic air would put a strain on area power grids, resulting in rotating blackouts for some locations (this was much worse for other portions of Texas due to a statewide power crises felt most on the ERCOT power grid). The extreme cold also caused multiple indirect fatalities in the Texas Panhandle and led to school closings due to winter weather and/or the Texas energy crises that required measures to strongly limit energy consumption. The cold also halted plant operations due to issues with natural gas fuel, killed some livestock and also caused localized damage to residences and schools due to freezing water pipes. There were isolated reports of private water wells freezing up across the area. In addition, several municipal water wells in the southeast Texas Panhandle froze up and sustained damage (Donley County) during this time. There was also reported damage to water treatment facilities in Oldham County.

While local impacts in the Panhandle were less than the rest of Texas because the region's infrastructure is more built to handle major cold outbreaks, losses in the state of Texas were estimated to be well into the billions. Impacts from the power disruptions and natural gas fuel issues caused by the cold were certainly felt well outside of the worst hit areas and this included the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. For example, local dairy production was halted for a period of time because the processing plants located outside the Panhandles were without power and unable to operate. Farmers were forced to dispose of milk produced during this timeframe. Damage outside the Panhandles to the southeast was extensive due to power interruptions within the ERCOT power grid which led to numerous broken pipes and damages down state in Texas. These greater disruptions impacted the far southeast Texas Panhandle, which was the only area that was included on the ERCOT power grid at the time.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 945830. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.