National Weather Service Lubbock Significant Weather Events

Mid June, 2017: Severe Weather and Heatwave

Lightning from a thunderstorm near Memphis, TX on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Photo courtesy Bruce Haynie. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Mid-June brought a variety of weather to the South Plains region of West Texas. After a cool start to June, temperatures began to heat up as a ridge of high pressure developed across the desert southwest. Several weak upper-level disturbances rounding the top and east sides of the ridge helped kick off a couple rounds of thunderstorms during the period. Two days saw quite a bit of thunderstorm activity, Monday, June 12 and Thursday, June 15.

The image below shows a satellite image from late in the day Monday showing several storms developing east of a dryline running N-NE to S-SW from the central Texas Panhandle into the western Permian Basin. One of these storms dropped very large hail up to baseball size in Plainview, unfortunately causing some property damage.

Satellite imagery of thunderstorm activity across West Texas around 7 pm on June 12, 2017. GOES-16 data are considered preliminary and non-operational. Click on the image for a larger version.

On Thursday the 15th, the dryline bent back farther west in the Texas South Plains, so several storms developed to the west of Interstate 27. The satellite image below in a snapshot of thunderstorm development late Thursday afternoon.

Satellite imagery of thunderstorm activity across West Texas around 4:30 pm on June 15, 2017. GOES-16 data are considered preliminary and non-operational. Click on the image for a larger version.

The atmosphere on Thursday was very unstable east of the dryline and a few of the storms quickly became severe. One storm to the west of Lubbock produced large hail and very heavy rainfall as it moved across Hockley County, It also produced wind gusts of 65 to 70 mph as it moved across the Levelland area. The storm then took a right turn and moved south-southeast across much of western Lynn County. The storm continued to produce large hail and severe wind gusts, with the West Texas Mesonet station near O'Donnell recording an 81 mph gust at 6:10 pm. The radar image below shows this storm as it approached O'Donnell.

Image of lowest-tilt reflectivity from the Lubbock radar at 6:00 pm on June 15, 2017 showing the severe thunderstorm in western Lynn County.  Click on the image for a larger version.

There were also severe thunderstorms around the Caprock Canyons area of the southeast Texas Panhandle. The photograph below captured a strong thunderstorm downdraft from one of the storms. These storms eventually moved across the Childress area producing wind gusts up to about 65 mph.

Photograph of a "rain foot" from a strong downburst from a thunderstorm near Memphis, TX on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Photo courtesy Bruce Haynie. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Pockets of heavy rain accompanied the thunderstorms. Unfortunately, the rainfall was pretty spotty overall. In the map below, several areas stand out across the southeast Texas Panhandle and eastern portions of Swisher and Hale Counties. Also, a narrow swath of heavy rain cam be seen from Hockey into southern Lynn County associated with the severe storm on the 15th.

Estimated rainfall across the area from June 10 through June 19, 2017.

Heatwave:

Unfortunately, the region had to endure an extended stretch of hot temperatures. The hot weather culminated on Friday, when temperatures soared well above 100 degrees at most locations. As can be seen in the map below, many locations were above 110 degrees. The hottest temperatures were on the Caprock, and along the canyons. The West Texas Mesonet station on the floor of Palo Duro Canyon reported the hottest temperature, 114 degrees!

A map of high temperatures across the area as reported by the West Texas Mesonet on June 17, 2017. The data is courtesy Texas Tech University: www.mesonet.ttu.edu. Click on the image for a larger version.

The chart below shows the high temperatures at Lubbock during this period. Only one record high was broken, on Friday the 17th.

A graphic showing the high temperatures of 100 degrees or more for eight consecutive days at Lubbock. Click on the image for a larger version.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
1122 PM CDT MON JUN 12 2017

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0708 PM     HAIL             PLAINVIEW               34.19N 101.72W
06/12/2017  M2.00 INCH       HALE               TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

0708 PM     HAIL             1 SW PLAINVIEW          34.18N 101.74W
06/12/2017  E2.75 INCH       HALE               TX   PUBLIC

            TIME ESTIMATED. MANY VEHICLES DAMAGED.

0708 PM     HAIL             3 NW PLAINVIEW          34.22N 101.76W
06/12/2017  E3.00 INCH       HALE               TX   PUBLIC

            TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

0711 PM     HAIL             PLAINVIEW               34.19N 101.72W
06/12/2017  E1.00 INCH       HALE               TX   LAW ENFORCEMENT

0830 PM     HAIL             9 NW PETERSBURG         33.98N 101.70W
06/12/2017  E3.00 INCH       HALE               TX   STORM CHASER

0943 PM     HAIL             7 SW FLOYDADA           33.91N 101.42W
06/12/2017  E2.00 INCH       FLOYD              TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            FALLING AT THIS TIME. MOSTLY GOLF BALL SIZE.

0950 PM     TSTM WND GST     3 WSW AIKEN             34.13N 101.57W
06/12/2017  M62 MPH          HALE               TX   MESONET

            SUSTAINED 53 MPH. EARLIER GUST TO 58 MPH AT 948 PM.
            MEASURED BY THE WEST TEXAS MESONET.

0955 PM     TSTM WND GST     2 NNE FLOYDADA          34.00N 101.33W
06/12/2017  M62 MPH          FLOYD              TX   MESONET

            MEASURED BY THE WEST TEXAS MESONET.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
1133 AM CDT FRI JUN 16 2017

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0418 PM     TSTM WND DMG     LEVELLAND               33.58N 102.36W
06/15/2017                   HOCKLEY            TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            BAY DOOR BLOWN OFF OF A WELDING SHOP ON THE EAST SIDE
            OF TOWN.

0420 PM     TSTM WND GST     4 S LEVELLAND           33.53N 102.36W
06/15/2017  M65 MPH          HOCKLEY            TX   MESONET

0430 PM     TSTM WND GST     4 S LEVELLAND           33.53N 102.36W
06/15/2017  M69 MPH          HOCKLEY            TX   MESONET

0440 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 SW SMYER              33.56N 102.20W
06/15/2017                   HOCKLEY            TX   CO-OP OBSERVER

            UTILITY POLES DOWN

0445 PM     TSTM WND GST     6 NNW ROPESVILLE        33.49N 102.19W
06/15/2017  E70 MPH          HOCKLEY            TX   CO-OP OBSERVER

            LOTS OF TREE LIMBS DOWN AND WATER TO 6 DEEP

0445 PM     FLOOD            6 NNW ROPESVILLE        33.49N 102.19W
06/15/2017                   HOCKLEY            TX   CO-OP OBSERVER

            LOTS OF TREE LIMBS DOWN AND WATER TO 6 DEEP

0500 PM     FLASH FLOOD      6 S SMYER               33.50N 102.16W
06/15/2017                   HOCKLEY            TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED 2FT OF WATER RUNNING ACROSS
            1585 6MI S OF SMYER.

0504 PM     HAIL             ROPESVILLE              33.41N 102.15W
06/15/2017  E1.00 INCH       HOCKLEY            TX   PUBLIC

0527 PM     HAIL             7 SSW BRICE             34.62N 100.94W
06/15/2017  E2.00 INCH       HALL               TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

0550 PM     TSTM WND GST     4 S ESTELLINE           34.49N 100.44W
06/15/2017  E60 MPH          HALL               TX   CO-OP OBSERVER

            TREE BRANCHES OFF OF TREES.

0600 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 E ESTELLINE           34.55N 100.42W
06/15/2017                   HALL               TX   TX DOT

            SEMI TRUCK BLOWN OVER ON HIGHWAY 287 NEAR THE HALL AND
            CHILRESS COUNTY LINE

0605 PM     HAIL             1 NW TURKEY             34.40N 100.91W
06/15/2017  E1.25 INCH       HALL               TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

0610 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 N O`DONNELL           32.98N 101.83W
06/15/2017  M81 MPH          LYNN               TX   MESONET

0610 PM     HAIL             O`DONNELL               32.97N 101.83W
06/15/2017  E1.00 INCH       LYNN               TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

0615 PM     TSTM WND DMG     O`DONNELL               32.97N 101.83W
06/15/2017                   LYNN               TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TREE LIMBS DOWN OF 8 INCH DIAMETER AND LARGER.

0620 PM     HAIL             O`DONNELL               32.97N 101.83W
06/15/2017  M1.25 INCH       LYNN               TX   BROADCAST MEDIA

0636 PM     TSTM WND GST     2 W CHILDRESS           34.43N 100.28W
06/15/2017  M64 MPH          CHILDRESS          TX   ASOS

0646 PM     TSTM WND GST     2 NNE CHILDRESS         34.46N 100.20W
06/15/2017  M63 MPH          CHILDRESS          TX   MESONET

0700 PM     HAIL             3 S TELL                34.34N 100.39W
06/15/2017  E1.00 INCH       CHILDRESS          TX   CO-OP OBSERVER

            TREE LIMBS DOWN... MINOR CROP DAMAGE

0700 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 S TELL                34.34N 100.39W
06/15/2017                   CHILDRESS          TX   CO-OP OBSERVER

            TREE LIMBS DOWN... MINOR CROP DAMAGE

0715 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 S NORTHFIELD          34.27N 100.60W
06/15/2017  M61 MPH          MOTLEY             TX   MESONET