Severe weather in the Panhandles is extremely rare in February, much less at night.  In fact, less than 1% of all severe weather in the Panhandles occurs in the month of February.  However, meteorological anomalies do happen, and that is certainly what transpired during the evening and early morning hours of February 2 and 3, respectively.  As a potent upper-level storm system approached the region, abundant moisture from the Gulf of Mexico rapidly streamed northward.  At the surface, a weak semblance of a dry line slowly advanced eastward during the day.  As it encountered the moistening air in the Texas Panhandle, showers and thunderstorms developed by the late afternoon hours.  Initially, this activity remained below severe levels.  However, as the evening progressed, a low-level jet stream continued to pump additional moisture into the area.  This only caused the atmosphere to become more unstable, which caused the thunderstorms to intensify into severe thunderstorms. 

There were several reports of large hail, including golfball size hail 10 miles north of Amarillo.  Additionally, an EF-1 tornado moved from extreme northeastern Gray County to the far southwestern corner of Hemphill County.  This was the earliest known tornado to occur in the Panhandles and only the fourth known tornado to occur in February in the Amarillo forecast area since 1950!  Despite the severe weather, many locations along and south of the Highway 60 corridor received very beneficial rainfall amounts.  Higgins received 3.19", Allison picked up 2.90", and Canadian received 2.35".

Radar loop 6:30 p.m. Feb. 2 - 3:00 a.m. Feb. 3