Spring In Amarillo: Outdoor Adventures, Baseball Season, And Tornadoes

Spring in Amarillo, Texas is usually full of activity. We all start spending more time outdoors. Baseball players come out of hibernation. The weather becomes somewhat tolerable. It also means storms, and in the Texas panhandle, that can mean tornadoes. In a recent study that was done, though, Amarillo was named the small metro with the second biggest decline in high-intensity tornadoes.

Amarillo Sees Second Biggest Decline Of High-Intensity Tornadoes

According to research done by the group Captain Experience, Amarillo has plenty to be thankful for. According to them, Amarillo has seen a big decline in the number of high-intensity tornadoes over the last 20 years.

Get our free mobile app

This gives Amarillo, Texas the title of second-biggest decline among small metros. They looked at data from November 2004 to November 2023, and counted anything marked EF2 or higher as a high-intensity tornado.

Is Amarillo, Texas Still In Tornado Alley?

While Amarillo, Texas is still definitely considered part of "Tornado Alley", these researchers point out that most occurrences of high-intensity tornadoes have happened east in what is called "Dixie Alley". We're still seeing tornadoes; just not at the same volume our friends to the east are.

Tornadoes are a big part of Texas culture. You see references to twisters everywhere you go. Sports teams. Souvenirs at gas stations. It's such a big part of our culture that pretty much everyone swears they can identify a wall cloud, and has stories of sitting on the porch watching a 'nader pass by.

You can see the full results of the study by following this link. I'm okay with having fewer tornadoes. What we really need, and always need, is rain.