Potter County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Potter County: 0.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

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).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 28, 2013Hail$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 thunderstorm produced copious amounts of large destructive hail across the city. A trained storm spotter at the intersection of 34th Ave and Soncy Road (Randall County) reported that baseball size hail had broken out the windows of 7 Bar and Grill. Several business and residential homes near this intersection suffered broken window, roof damage, and hundreds of vehicles at Gene Messer Ford of Amarillo suffered…

2. May 28, 2013Hail$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 thunderstorm produced copious amounts of large destructive hail across the city. A trained storm spotter in downtown Amarillo (Potter County) reported golf ball size hail covering the group as the supercell moved through the area. This hail caused varying degrees of damage to residential homes businesses, and vehicles in the area. The supercell continued traveling in a northeastern direction which took it out of the…

3. May 28, 2013Hail$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 thunderstorm produced copious amounts of large destructive hail across the city. A member of the public at Northwest Texas Hospital (Potter County) reported quarter size hail on Coulter Street in front of the hospital. The hail had accumulated to a foot deep on the road. This hail caused varying degrees to vehicles and roofs in the area. The supercell continued traveling in a northeastern direction which took it out…

4. May 28, 2013Hail$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 thunderstorm produced copious amounts of large destructive hail across the city. A member of the public reported ping pong ball size hail near the intersection of 26th Ave and Georgia (Randall County). This hail caused damage to residential homes and business. A skylight on a residential home was broken by the hail. The supercell continued traveling in a northeastern direction which took it out of the Amarillo city…

5. Jun 19, 2020Hail$18.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 extended from the Potter/Randall County line north from 2 to 4 miles into Potter County reaching Route 66 / Highway 60 in some areas per reports. The largest hail fell near or just south of the downtown area near Interstate 40 which included the Woflin area of Amarillo. The event was described as a catastrophic event by insurance companies with well over 500 insurance claims made within a few days time…

6. Jun 21, 2004Hail$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Reported at the Westgate Mall area of west Amarillo. Many roofs and skylights to homes damaged.

7. Jul 7, 2010Flash Flood$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 reported to be covering three vehicles that were stranded in a ditch on U.S. Highway 60 and two miles east of Loop 335. High water rescues had to be performed for the stranded motorists on U.S. Highway 60 and two miles east of Loop 335 as the water was up to the roof tops. U.S. Highway 60 was then closed at Loop 335 due to the high water. High water rescues were also performed on stranded motorists at the…

8. May 28, 2013Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 thunderstorm produced copious amounts of large destructive hail across the city. A member of the public reported a mix of quarter to half dollar fell at their residence and was enough to cover the yard. The hail also caused varying degrees of roof and vehicle damage. The supercell continued traveling in a northeastern direction which took it out of the Amarillo city limits shortly before midnight on the 29th.

9. May 28, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 isolated downbursts across the city. While a thunderstorm was over the intersection of 6th Ave and Osage Road a roof was blown off a metal building due to a downburst. The Amarillo (Potter and Randall County) Emergency Manager reported this damage. The thunderstorm decayed quickly after moving to the dry side of the dryline due to ingesting much drier air into the updrafts. No injuries were associated with this gust.

10. Feb 27, 2011Wildfire, Potter$10.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Texas Forest Service reported that the Willow Creek South Complex began four miles north of Amarillo TX in Potter County around 1348 CST and was caused by power equipment being used. The wildfire consumed a measured twenty-four thousand three hundred and ten acres which was mapped using GPS. The wildfire destroyed twenty-nine homes, however no injuries were reported. The wildfire was contained at 1914 CST on March 1 and brought under control on March 3.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

111°FJun 26, 2011

All-time low

−14°FFeb 1, 1951

Warmest night

79°FJul 9, 2011

Coldest day

2°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

5.74 inJul 7, 2010

Snowiest day

19.0 inFeb 25, 2013

Hottest year

2024mean 61.9°F

Coldest year

1979mean 55.0°F

Wettest year

196036.67 in

Driest year

20117.01 in

Snowiest season

47.9 in1982-83

Station Amarillo (USW00023047), 3,703 ft elevation, 7.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1947 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

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).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00023047.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.