National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce
Click a location below for detailed forecast.

Last Map Update: Tue, Apr 14, 2026 at 12:42:45 pm CDT

Thunderstorms, some severe, are forecast across the Rolling Plains this afternoon and evening, as the dryline will park along and east of the I-27 corridor. Damaging winds up to 70 mph and large hail up to two inches in diameter will be possible with storms. If storms develop this evening (by 7 PM CDT and beyond), then storms may pose a risk for tornadoes in the Rolling Plains.
The combination of strong, southwesterly winds and low relative humidity will result in favorable conditions for the rapid growth and spread of wildfires across the far southern Texas Panhandle and portions of the Caprock. A Red Flag Warning is in effect between noon and 8 PM CDT today. A Fire Danger Statement is also in effect for counties adjacent to the Red Flag Warning. Avoid activities that involve the use of open sparks and/or flames, especially within the Red Flag Warning area.
A Wind Advisory is in effect between 1 PM and 7 PM CDT for the far southwestern Texas Panhandle and northern South Plains. Southwesterly winds between 25-35 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph, are expected this afternoon. Blowing dust will be possible.
Dry and windy conditions are expected across most of the Caprock today, with the southwesterly breeze transitioning towards the south in the Rolling Plains. Thunderstorms, some severe, will be possible across the Rolling Plains this afternoon and evening. Storm chances will end late tonight, with cool temperatures beneath a mostly cloudy sky.
Dry and breezy weather is expected for the rest of the week and into the weekend across the Caprock. Much cooler temperatures are forecast this weekend following the passage of a cold front moving in from the north.
Daily storm chances are forecast for the Rolling Plains through the end of the week. Much cooler and drier weather is forecast this weekend following a strong cold front moving in from the north.

 

 

 

Local Weather History For April 14th...
2011 (14th-15th): A potent upper air storm system slowly moved eastward over the Southern Plains on the 14th and 15th.
This system brought relentless winds to portions of West Texas and supported an outbreak of at least 36 wildfires across
the states of New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma that burned more than 300,000 acres. This system began to influence weather
across the South Plains region of West Texas on the 14th, when westerly winds sustained in the 25 mph to 35 mph range
caused blowing dust and contributed to extremely critical fire weather. A localized and brief severe gust of 60 mph was
recorded at the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site near Silverton shortly after 2 PM. Although new fire starts
on the West Texas South Plains were limited on the 14th, significant runs were observed on several ongoing massive and
long-lived wildfires including the Swenson and Cooper Mountain Ranch fires. As the upper air storm system slowly
progressed east, a strong cold front pushed southward across the region in its wake. Post frontal winds reached severe
levels, with gusts as high as 67 mph. The most intense winds occurred over the extreme southeastern Panhandle and the
northern Rolling Plains, in closest proximity to the exiting storm system. Although the winds were in the post frontal
environment, temperatures only cooled modestly behind the front, and relative humidities again dropped below critical fire
weather thresholds. The combination of damaging wind gusts and low relative humidities resulted in a swarm of new fire
starts over western Oklahoma and western north Texas, and another significant run of the ongoing Swenson and Cooper
Mountain Ranch fires on the South Plains which accounted for scorching tens of thousands of acres during the two-day
period.