Potter County, Texas
Tornadoes, hail, floods and severe storms recorded here between 1951 and 2026, from NOAA's Storm Events Database. Search an address to see which tornadoes came closest to it.
40
Tornado reports
882
Hail reports
101
Floods since 1996
1,986
All events
15
Deaths
$505.1M
Property damage
Tornado paths in Potter County
The part of each tornado’s path NOAA recorded in this county, 40 in all. Zoom in and the paths widen to their surveyed width.
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Year by year
All storm eventsTornadoes
NOAA's storm database records tornadoes back to 1950 and hail and thunderstorm wind back to 1955, but floods only from 1996 on. Older floods are missing here. For those, the U.S. Geological Survey's stream gauge records and flood reports are the place to look.
Most significant events
The strongest tornadoes, deadliest events and biggest damage here, up to 50.
Around 0500 CST on the 14th, Potter County saw wind chill values drop to -15F to -25F, 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 -13F which was recorded…
Storm total snow of 4.3 inches at the NWS office in Amarillo. Public reports of 2.5 inches in Amarillo, 4.0 inches 1 miles WSW of Bushland, 4.0 inches 5 miles north of Amarillo, and 4.0 inches 6 miles W of Amarillo. Also multiple wreck with one known fatality.
The Amarillo (Potter County) Police reported 17 traffic accidents between the hours of 4 to 8 AM CST on city roads with the majority of them on overpasses. At the Ross-Mirror Connector an initial two car accident resulted in multiple other accidents when motorists were unable to …
The Texas Department of Public Safety reported that four to five inches of snow in Potter county resulted in icy conditions which caused the driver of a pickup truck traveling eastbound on Interstate 40 at Farm to Market Road 1912 to lose control of the vehicle around 0745CST. Th…
Strong northerly winds and one to one and a half inches of snow combined to cause treacherous driving conditions and near zero mile visibilities. One woman was killed when her vehicle spun out for about one hundred yards on the icy road in northwest Amarillo on Soncy Road (Loop 3…
Snow...between two and three inches...and blowing snow with winds of thirty-five miles per hour...resulted in a forty-two car accident on Interstate 40 in the eastbound lanes of the sixty-seven hundred block just west of Whitaker Road at 0542 CST. One person was killed and two pe…
A thirty-seven year old man was killed in the morning hours in a vehicle accident which occurred at 0730 CST in the three hundred block of East St. Francis Avenue. The victim was killed when the vehicle he was driving was hit by a pickup truck. Two to three inches of snow along w…
One inch of snow on U.S. Highway 287 near the Canadian River Bridge contributed to icy conditions which led to a one vehicle accident in which a nineteen year old female was killed. The vehicle in which she was driving in rolled over. Three other passengers in the vehicle were in…
Snow and blowing snow contributed to an eighty to one hundred car accident on Interstate 40 east near the intersection of U.S. Highway 287. One sixty-five year old male was killed in his vehicle...twenty-one people were injured and transported to the hospital...and one hundred an…
Four tenths of an inch of ice from freezing rain and freezing drizzle was measured at the National Weather Service Office in Amarillo six miles east of Amarillo.
A teenage boy was playing outside at West Hills Park located at Amarillo Boulevard and Western Street around 1830 CST and was sucked into a tunnel that was part of the park's drainage system. Emergency rescue was called around 1859 CST and the boy's body was recovered at 2030 CST…
Underpasses in the city of Amarillo were flooded and motorists were stranded. One forty-nine year old adult male was killed during a rescue attempt after the motorist attempted to drive through a flooded underpass. Water continued to rise rapidly to a height of approximately four…
A continuous swath of hail ranging from penny size up to golf ball and even hen egg size occurred along a continuous swath over a 50 minute period as a severe storm traveled from the west side of Amarillo across the city to the east side near the Airport. The swath of severe hail…
A supercell thunderstorm that developed along a retreating dryline in Deaf Smith and Oldham Counties tracked to the northeast across the southern Texas Panhandle. The supercell entered the city limits of Amarillo during the late night hours of the 28th. This supercell thunderstor…
A supercell thunderstorm that developed along a retreating dryline in Deaf Smith and Oldham Counties tracked to the northeast across the southern Texas Panhandle. The supercell entered the city limits of Amarillo during the late night hours of the 28th. This supercell thunderstor…
A supercell thunderstorm that developed along a retreating dryline in Deaf Smith and Oldham Counties tracked to the northeast across the southern Texas Panhandle. The supercell entered the city limits of Amarillo during the late night hours of the 28th. This supercell thunderstor…
A supercell thunderstorm that developed along a retreating dryline in Deaf Smith and Oldham Counties tracked to the northeast across the southern Texas Panhandle. The supercell entered the city limits of Amarillo during the late night hours of the 28th. This supercell thunderstor…
A supercell thunderstorm that developed along a retreating dryline in Deaf Smith and Oldham Counties tracked to the northeast across the southern Texas Panhandle. The supercell entered the city limits of Amarillo during the late night hours of the 28th. This supercell thunderstor…
Thunderstorms formed along a dryline stretching east-northeastward across Randall and Potter Counties during the afternoon hours of the 28th. These thunderstorms would take a northeast track which allowed them to move over the dryline. This caused the thunderstorms to produce iso…
The heavy rains caused water to flow inside of the Highland Park High School cafeteria with ankle to knee deep water inside the elementary wing of the Highland Park school. Raef Road...south of U.S. Highway 60...was reported to be impassable due to the flash flooding with water r…
Reported at the Westgate Mall area of west Amarillo. Many roofs and skylights to homes damaged.
Large hail damaged a total of eight hundred and fifty automobiles at Gene Messer Ford in southwest Amarillo and Westgate Chevrolet on the west side of Amarillo causing a total of two and a half million dollars. The rest of the damage was to other people's cars, roof damage, windo…
Thunderstorm Wind Thunderstorm Wind
A tree was blown down and the tree was potentially rotted, which would make it easier to blown down. Winds were estimated to be around 60mph at this time.
Thunderstorm Wind Thunderstorm Wind
A few power poles were blown over.
Thunderstorm Wind Thunderstorm Wind
Thunderstorm Wind Thunderstorm Wind
Hail Hail
A supercell thunderstorm moved across Wildorado in Oldham County but also produced 1.5 inch hail near Bushland in Potter County.
Hail Hail
Thunderstorm Wind Thunderstorm Wind
Severe winds were measured at the mesonet site located 10 miles east-southeast of Valley de Oro. The peak wind gust was 91mph, which was measured at 939 PM CDT.
Thunderstorm Wind Thunderstorm Wind
A trained spotter measured winds between 60 and 65mph with a handheld anemometer.
Drought Drought
Extreme (D3) to Exceptional (D4) drought was observed at the beginning of the month. Normal to above normal precipitation fell in roughly the first half of the month, followed by normal to below normal precipitation through much of the second half. Overall, normal to above normal…
Hail Hail
A swath of hail fell starting to the south of Bushland, with around quarter size being observed at these locations. Golfball size hail fell about two miles west of Bushland and baseball size hail (2.75 inches) fell about one mile east northeast of Bushland.
Wildfire Wildfire
The Stinky Fire was ignited from the Amarillo Landfill the afternoon of the 17th. Extreme Fire conditions were observed on the 17th. The fire was believed to be controlled that evening, and while it started off as just about 5 acres given it's location and the weather conditions …
Wildfire Wildfire
Dry lightning on May 14th ignited the Shifty Fire in northern Potter County, and the fire was able to spread quickly due to erratic wind gusts from the storm, but it was able to be contained by the afternoon of the 15th, and it's final size was 5,277 acres.
Drought Drought
Oldham and Deaf Smith counties started the month of May in Severe Drought (D2), as well as the western halves of Potter and Randall counties. The eastern halves of Potter and Randall counties started the month in Extreme Drought (D3). A continued trend of a dry spring brought on …
Wildfire Wildfire
The Smartside wildfire burned about 71 acres in northeast Amarillo. Fire Warnings were issued due to the fire threatening a community on the northeast side of town. Travis Intermediate School was evacuated due to the fire.
Thunderstorm Wind Thunderstorm Wind
Wildfire Wildfire
A fire ignited about 17 miles north of Amarillo along Highway 287, it was known as the Meadow View fire and it would go on to burn 1262 acres before being contained a couple days later. The cause of the fire was unknown. Fire weather conditions that day were elevated to critical …
Drought Drought
Severe Drought (D2) continued into April as the area still lacked any significant precipitation. This lack of rain continued through much of the month, but there were a few showers and storms that moved through the county. In total, the county measured 0.07 inches of rain in the …
Drought Drought
The SW TX Panhandle began March in Moderate Drought (D1), but by the end of week three, the northern third of Deaf Smith, the northwestern half to two-thirds of Potter County, and all of Oldham County worsened to Severe Drought (D2). This escalation was due to little to no measur…
Hail Hail
Hail of mostly nickel to quarter size fell across the western and northwestern side of Amarillo. However, hail of two inches in diameter fell near I-40 and Coulter Street. In addition, hail of golfball size fell to the west-northwest of Amarillo.
Wildfire Wildfire
The Lavender Fire ignited on February 17, 2026, approximately five miles south of Boys Ranch in Oldham County. The fire began along the U.S. Highway 385 corridor. The fire was fueled by critically dry, waist-high grass and extreme wind conditions. It exhibited rapid growth initia…
High Wind High Wind
The peak wind gust in Potter County was 70 mph and this was observed at the mesonet site located 15 miles north-northwest of Amarillo at 1346CST. Gusts greater than 58 mph were observed in the county from about 1200CST until 1500CST.
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Two to four inches fell from this system across the southern half to eastern third of the county. Snow totals fell off towards the northwestern part of the county. The official NWS snow total for the Amarillo climate observation was 3.7 for this event. The north side of Amarillo …
Flood Flood
Police blocked off the underpass on I-40 at the Ross Osage exit due to a car stranded and partially submerged in flood waters.
Events by year, as a table
| Year | Events | Tornadoes |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 22 | 0 |
| 2025 | 28 | 0 |
| 2024 | 26 | 0 |
| 2023 | 50 | 1 |
| 2022 | 73 | 0 |
| 2021 | 36 | 0 |
| 2020 | 63 | 0 |
| 2019 | 82 | 1 |
| 2018 | 29 | 0 |
| 2017 | 49 | 1 |
| 2016 | 50 | 1 |
| 2015 | 62 | 2 |
| 2014 | 92 | 0 |
| 2013 | 128 | 0 |
| 2012 | 73 | 0 |
| 2011 | 31 | 0 |
| 2010 | 37 | 1 |
| 2009 | 133 | 0 |
| 2008 | 64 | 0 |
| 2007 | 97 | 0 |
| 2006 | 35 | 0 |
| 2005 | 57 | 0 |
| 2004 | 62 | 2 |
| 2003 | 26 | 0 |
| 2002 | 71 | 0 |
| 2001 | 49 | 1 |
| 2000 | 28 | 1 |
| 1999 | 39 | 1 |
| 1998 | 8 | 0 |
| 1997 | 27 | 0 |
| 1996 | 30 | 0 |
| 1995 | 31 | 0 |
| 1994 | 32 | 0 |
| 1993 | 9 | 1 |
| 1992 | 22 | 0 |
| 1991 | 12 | 1 |
| 1990 | 9 | 0 |
| 1989 | 26 | 4 |
| 1988 | 2 | 0 |
| 1987 | 6 | 3 |
| 1986 | 3 | 0 |
| 1985 | 2 | 0 |
| 1984 | 1 | 0 |
| 1983 | 4 | 0 |
| 1982 | 11 | 2 |
| 1981 | 7 | 0 |
| 1979 | 12 | 1 |
| 1978 | 9 | 0 |
| 1977 | 6 | 0 |
| 1976 | 3 | 0 |
| 1975 | 5 | 0 |
| 1974 | 12 | 1 |
| 1973 | 4 | 2 |
| 1972 | 8 | 2 |
| 1971 | 10 | 0 |
| 1970 | 4 | 0 |
| 1969 | 2 | 1 |
| 1968 | 8 | 1 |
| 1967 | 6 | 0 |
| 1966 | 6 | 1 |
| 1965 | 4 | 1 |
| 1964 | 3 | 0 |
| 1963 | 6 | 0 |
| 1962 | 10 | 2 |
| 1961 | 10 | 0 |
| 1960 | 7 | 2 |
| 1959 | 3 | 0 |
| 1958 | 6 | 0 |
| 1957 | 4 | 1 |
| 1955 | 3 | 1 |
| 1951 | 1 | 1 |
Search your address
See every tornado that passed within 25 miles of a place in Potter County, measured to its path.
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