Potter County, Texas severe weather history spans 1,507 recorded events between 1951 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 58.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #36 nationally and #5 in Texas.
1,507
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
8
Direct injuries
$485.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Potter County, Texas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Potter County, Texas severe weather history averages 20.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 494 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 214 events fall before 1990 and 1,293 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Potter County, Texas record is flash flood, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $454.7M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Potter County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 879 | 0 | $454.7M | 4.5 | 1955–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 464 | 0 | $14.0M | 87 | 1955–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 78 | 2 | $11.6M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 40 | 0 | $5.4M | F3 | 1951–2023 |
| Flood | 23 | 0 | $72K | 0 | 2018–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 15 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2013–2013 |
| Funnel Cloud | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2024 |
| Dust Devil | 1 | 0 | $23K | 0 | 2008–2008 |
Decade by decade
Potter County, Texas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
39 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 34 touched down inside it and 5 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-06-27 | EF4 | 0 | 7 | 20.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1982-05-09 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 8.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2016-06-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-09-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1973-03-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-06-21 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 4.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1969-05-02 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-04 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-06-24 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Potter County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 22, 2006 | Flash Flood | AMARILLO | 1 | 0 | $43K |
| Jul 22, 2002 | Flash Flood | AMARILLO | 1 | 0 | $30K |
| Jun 22, 1972 | Tornado | 0 | 5 | $2.5M | |
| Aug 12, 2025 | Hail | AMARILLO | 0 | 1 | $15K |
| May 4, 1989 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 | |
| May 10, 1982 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $2.5M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
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. Several cars were stranded in high water at Interstate 40 and Bell Street.
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 fourteen feet. The victim could not swim.
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 varying degrees of hail damage. The supercell continued traveling in a northeastern direction which took it out of the Amarillo city limits shortly before midnight on the 29th.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
115,975
Population (ACS)
$147K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 2026 | Fire | STINKY FIRE | FM |
| Feb 19, 2021 | Severe Ice Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR |
| Feb 14, 2021 | Severe Ice Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Mar 25, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jul 1, 2011 | Fire | WILDFIRES | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Amarillo 910
- Bushland 155
- Valle De Oro 103
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Potter County, Texas?
1,507 events are on record between 1951 and 2026, causing 2 direct deaths and $485.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Potter County?
Hail, with 879 recorded events — 58.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Potter County?
39 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 34 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Potter County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Potter County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Potter County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Potter County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 90 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Potter County, Texas severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Polk County 317
- Presidio County 168
- Pecos County 985
- Rains County 189
- Parmer County 377
- Randall County 1,489
Cite this page
“Potter County, Texas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/texas/potter-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.