Strong to severe thunderstorm possible this afternoon through Saturday in the National Weather Service, Amarillo coverage area

CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB-
HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON-
GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…BOISE CITY…KEYES…GUYMON…BEAVER…
FORGAN…DALHART…STRATFORD…SPEARMAN…GRUVER…PERRYTON…
BOOKER…HIGGINS…FOLLETT…HARTLEY…CHANNING…DUMAS…
BORGER…MIAMI…CANADIAN…VEGA…AMARILLO…PANHANDLE…
WHITE DEER…PAMPA…SHAMROCK…WHEELER…HEREFORD…CANYON…
CLAUDE…CLARENDON…WELLINGTON
FRI MAR 8 2013

…STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
NOON SATURDAY…

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA WILL QUICKLY
MOVE TOWARDS THE PANHANDLES TODAY. AHEAD OF THIS 
DISTURBANCE…SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AS
GULF AND PACIFIC MOISTURE STREAM INTO THE PANHANDLES. STRONG TO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE GIVEN STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR
AND INCREASED UPPER LEVEL FORCING THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY
MORNING. THE MAIN HAZARDS WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WIND. WHILE THE CHANCE FOR AN ISOLATED TORNADO REMAINS
LOW…THE POSSIBILITY CANNOT BE RULED OUT. A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP
ACROSS THE PANHANDLES SATURDAY MORNING AND CLEAR THE AREA OF
PRECIPITATION BY NOON.  

SLIGHT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FORECAST MODELS AND MARGINAL INSTABILITY
ARE SOME FACTORS THAT MAY REDUCE…BUT NOT ENTIRELY ELIMINATE…THE
SEVERE THREAT. STAY TUNED TO THE LATEST FORECASTS AND UPDATES ON THIS
SYSTEM FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY VISITING OUR WEBPAGE AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/AMA…FOLLOWING YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN
AMARILLO ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER…LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO…OR THROUGH YOUR PREFERRED LOCAL NEWS MEDIA OUTLET.

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