NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Amarillo, TX
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Amarillo, Texas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 135 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 135
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Amarillo
The strongest of the 135 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 17, 1970; its path came within 14 miles, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an F2 on May 7, 1995, killed 1 person. Of the 135, 16 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 40 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 56. The most recent tornado was on April 25, 2025. Amarillo has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 71% of the 753 Texas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 963 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Amarillo has more hail reports within 10 miles than any other of the 753 Texas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Amarillo
By decade
- 2020s10
- 2010s12
- 2000s18
- 1990s22
- 1980s24(1 EF3+)
- 1970s18(1 EF3+)
- 1960s25
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 1970 | F4 | 14 mi | 130 mi | 1 / 13 |
| May 9, 1982 | F3 | 12 mi | 8.2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 7, 1995 | F2 | in town | 12 mi | 1 / 12 |
| Mar 13, 2021 | EF2 | 17 mi | 21.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 2016 | EF2 | 21 mi | 4.96 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 16, 1989 | F2 | 8 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 14, 1988 | F2 | 3 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 25, 1987 | F2 | 14 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 25, 1987 | F2 | 15 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 1973 | F2 | 17 mi | 90.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 23, 1973 | F2 | 3 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 1972 | F2 | 2 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 135, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Amarillo
The Storm Prediction Center has 963 hail reports within 10 miles of Amarillo since 1956, made on 284 separate days. Of these, 583 were 1 inch across or larger, and 52 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on July 24, 1979. The most recent report is from October 24, 2025. May has the most reports, 290.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Amarillo
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Amarillo, TX, 9 miles northeast of Amarillo at 3,587 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 52°F and 25°F. June and August are the wettest at 2.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 19.9 inches over 37 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 72 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 108 nights a year. Snowfall averages 17.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 19.9 inches is more than at 38 of the 312 Texas stations used on this site (12%). Canyon, 15 miles south, has its own station (Canyon, TX): 18.6 inches a year, 1.3 less than here, and the same July average high, 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 52 | 25 | 0.7 | 2 | 4.0 |
| Feb | 56 | 28 | 0.5 | 2 | 3.5 |
| Mar | 65 | 35 | 1.3 | 3 | 1.9 |
| Apr | 72 | 43 | 1.5 | 3 | 0.5 |
| May | 81 | 53 | 2.3 | 4 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 90 | 62 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 66 | 2.8 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 65 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 58 | 1.7 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 73 | 45 | 1.8 | 3 | 0.7 |
| Nov | 61 | 34 | 0.8 | 2 | 2.6 |
| Dec | 52 | 26 | 0.7 | 2 | 3.8 |
| Year | 73 | 45 | 19.9 | 37 | 17.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Amarillo, TX (3,587 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Amarillo
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 574 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Amarillo: 434 thunderstorm wind reports, 86 flash floods, 32 floods and 22 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $30.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 104 mph, on June 8, 2017. June has had the most flash floods, 34 of 86. Of the 745 Texas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 723 have had fewer than Amarillo.
December 14, 2012: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Amarillo — 1 killed.
May 28, 2013: thunderstorm wind in Amarillo — $10.0 million damage.
NWS: “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.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Amarillo's 13 ZIP codes have filed 621 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $8.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1982: 158 claims (25% of all) and $1.6 million, then Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 with 143. The year with the most claims was 1988, with 166. 50% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 433 Texas cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 345 have fewer than Amarillo.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1982 | 158 | $1.6 million |
| Hurricane Gilbert1988 | 143 | $2.1 million |
Randall County, which includes Amarillo, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1989, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 fires, 4 hurricanes, 3 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, on February 19, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Randall County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $70.4 million a year, the 25th highest of 254 Texas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $18.0 million (26%), is from tornadoes.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Amarillo
- Canyon, TX15 mi
- Panhandle, TX28 mi
- Fritch, TX34 mi
- Hereford, TX39 mi
- Borger, TX42 mi
- Tulia, TX45 mi
- Dumas, TX50 mi
- Dimmitt, TX53 mi
- Clarendon, TX56 mi
- Pampa, TX56 mi
- Cactus, TX60 mi
- Sunray, TX61 mi
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