AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — On Tuesday, we expect a disturbance to move from New Mexico into the Panhandles late tonight. This disturbance is expected to produce some thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening. It looks like the storms could be moderately severe as well. Damaging winds will be the main threat, but hailstones ranging in size from quarter to ping pong tables cannot be ruled out as the storms reach their peak intensity between 4 and 7 p.m.
The wind shear is strong enough that brief supercell storms are possible, but overall concern about tornadoes is very low at this time. As the storms move into the western panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, they should gradually weaken as the ingredients for strong storms become less and less present. By midnight, the storms should fall below severe limits and continue to break up as they move into the central panhandles.
WHAT: Severe storms possible
WHEN: Tuesday evening 4:00 p.m. – midnight
WHERE: Mainly eastern New Mexico, but also the western panhandles.
HAZARDS: Damaging winds (65 mph), hail (1.5″) and we can’t rule out a brief tornado or two.
IMPACTS: The biggest concern is damaging winds, with anything from heavy hailstorms to ping-pong storms possible in eastern New Mexico. We’re not too concerned about landslides or weak tornadoes, but we can’t completely rule them out in eastern New Mexico. As the storm moves into the Panhandles, the wind threat becomes the all-time favorite for any type of severe weather threat.
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