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Critical Fire Weather Concerns; Storm Tracking Across the Plains

Combination of strong winds, dry conditions and above normal temperatures will result in elevated to critical fire weather concerns for the Southern Plains and portions of Southern California. This is part of a storm system that is tracking across the central Plains with occasional snow showers and heavier snow from the Rockies through the Central/Northern Plains. Read More >

Overview

Wednesday morning a cold front came through the Texas Panhandle and stalled along a line from just south of Hereford up through Lefors, TX to the far northeastern corner of the Texas Panhandle. This cold front was associated with a low-pressure system in southeastern New Mexico that eventually moved into the Texas Panhandle from around the Clovis area. The front and low pressure system both played a role in providing lift for this event as daytime heating was hindered by cloud cover. Plenty of instability was present creating a concern for severe thunderstorms mainly in the central and eastern Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. The first severe thunderstorm warning was issued around 1:10 PM in parts of Armstrong and Donley County. Storms continued to pop up across the area producing hail between 1-2 inches. The largest hail reported was 2 inches in Wheeler County near Twitty, TX at 3:11 PM. While another storm up near Glazier, Texas started dropping and lifting small rope tornadoes in the northeast Texas Panhandle between 3:30 PM and 4:30 PM, with several confirmed reports of tornadoes touching down. Later, different outflow boundaries started to collide and produce brief spin ups, such as a land spout tornado and several gustnados, east and southeast of Amarillo. Overall the office received 21 reports of hail at least 1 inch in diameter. Furthermore, a total of 4 tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down, one of which was a land spout seen from the Amarillo – Rick Husband International Airport tower. Many areas also reported accumulating hail, making it look like it had snowed, with one report in Randall County stating it had accumulated several inches deep.

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