Texas Panhandle Memories: Calling a Phone Number for the Time and Temperature

Back in the day Amarillo and many Texas Panhandle towns had a number to call that would give you the time and temperature.

Get our free mobile app

In the olden days, and by olden we're talking the 80s and 90s, things worked a bit differently than they do now.  Weather wasn't available at our fingertips and unless you had a watch or were near a clock you had no idea of knowing the time.  This was a time when you didn't carry a mini-computer (that would be your smartphone) in your hands that would pull up the time or the temperature with the swipe of a finger.

How Did People Find the Time and Temperature Before Smartphones?

Most cities had special phone numbers you could call, it would tell you the time and the temperature.  It was a robotic voice, sometimes male sometimes female.  It would usually give you the date, and the sponsor name (the time and temp numbers were usually owned by a bank), it would give you the temperature, and then the forecast, and then it would disconnect.

These days the time and temp phone numbers aren't needed.  However, while some of the numbers to the time and temp across the Texas Panhandle work, many do not. If you call one and it does it brings back a warm feeling of nostalgia.

I decided to call my hometown's time and temp number just to see if it still worked. Unfortunately, it doesn't anymore. That realization made me a little sad, a piece of my childhood is gone. It was comforting as I got older to pick up the phone, dial the number, and get a quick reminder of home.

Hopefully, the time and temperature number in your hometown still works, bringing a nostalgic smile to your face when you call it