National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Lubbock, TX

Weather Forecast Office

Rounds of severe thunderstorms, April 27th, 30th and May 1st, 2019

Weather.gov > Lubbock, TX > Rounds of severe thunderstorms, April 27th, 30th and May 1st, 2019
 
National Weather Service Lubbock Significant Weather Events
April 27th, 30th and May 1st 2019: Rounds of severe storms 
Tornado observed near Peacock (west of Aspermont in Stonewall County) on Saturday evening (April 27, 2019). The picture is courtesy of Craig Maire II.
Tornado observed near Peacock (west of Aspermont in Stonewall County) on Saturday evening (April 27, 2019). The picture is courtesy of Craig Maire II.

 

Late April and early May 2019 brought a few rounds of severe weather to West Texas. The activity was triggered by daytime heating along with a couple of passing cold fronts and upper air disturbances, while being fueled by good amounts of moisture and instability. The initial round of severe weather was sparked by a cold front dropping through the South Plains on Saturday, 27 April. 

 

Lubbock radar animation valid from 2:59 pm to 4:39 pm on 27 April 2019.
Lubbock radar animation valid from 2:59 pm to 4:39 pm on 27 April 2019.

 

Scattered thunderstorms developed along and immediately behind the cold front Saturday afternoon. The strongest storms dropped large hail and heavy rain as they moved eastward across the Rolling Plains through the evening hours.  Hail as large as baseball size was observed near Jayton as well as west of Swenson, where a car had its windshield broken. The Jayton West Texas Mesonet also recorded a wind gust to 63 mph.

 

GOES 16 visible satellite loop valid from 4:26 pm to 4:37 pm on 27 April 2019.
GOES 16 visible satellite loop valid from 4:26 pm to 4:37 pm on 27 April 2019.

 

As the storms merged into one larger complex in the southern Rolling Plains, one tornado (pictured at the top of this page) briefly touched down between Jayton and Aspermont (just west of Peacock). Thankfully, the tornado was over rural land and did no known damage before dissipating.

 

Lubbock radar animation valid from 5:01 pm to 8:11 pm on 27 April 2019.
Lubbock radar animation valid from 5:01 pm to 8:11 pm on 27 April 2019. Additionally, regional radar animations can be viewed at: 2:48 pm to 3:58 pm on 27 April; 4:38 pm to 5:48 pm on 27 April; and 6:38 pm to 7:48 pm on 27 April.

 

Below are a couple of pictures showing the impressive storm development, as well as the damage that the hail inflicted on the flora of the Rolling Plains.

 

View of a rapidly developing storm east of Lubbock on 27 April 2019. A picture of hail and a damaged cactus about 10 miles southeast of Aspermont on 27 April (picture courtesy of Michael Charnick).
Left - View of a rapidly developing storm east of Lubbock on Saturday afternoon (27 April 2019). Right - A picture of hail and a damaged cactus about 10 miles southeast of Aspermont on 27 April (picture courtesy of Michael Charnick).

 

The more intense activity did also drop heavy rain, with the highest rainfall totals falling in a swath from near Spur down to around Aspermont. This quick shot of rain did cause some minor flooding problems in and around Spur. 

 

Lubbock radar animation valid from 10:23 pm to 10:57 pm on 12 March 2019.
24-hour radar-estimated and bias-corrected rainfall totals ending at noon on 28 April 2019. The rain totals measured by the West Texas Mesonet sites can also be SEEN HERE.

 

After a couple of quiet weather days, the weather turned more active again Tuesday afternoon and evening (30 April). This activity was sparked by a lifting warm front and approaching dryline and upper level trough. 

 

View of storms over Motley County (from Lockney) on Tuesday evening (30 April 2019). The picture is courtesy of KAMC.
View of storms over Motley County (from Lockney) on Tuesday evening (30 April 2019). The picture is courtesy of KAMC.

 

Widely scattered thunderstorms developed along the warm front sitting across the southern Rolling Plains during the afternoon, while additional activity fired along the dryline across the western South Plains. All of this activity moved eastward through the late afternoon and evening hours. A couple of these storms did acquire mid-level rotation, which helped to increase their intensity and generate large hail. 

 

GOES 16 infrared satellite loop valid from 4:05 pm to 4:16 pm on 30 April 2019.
GOES 16 infrared satellite loop valid from 4:05 pm to 4:16 pm on 30 April 2019.

 

Hail as large as golf balls was observed south of Jayton, west of Littlefield and near Cotton Center. Even larger hail, measured as big as 2.1" diameter, was measured near Aiken, not far from Plainview.

 

Hail that fell east of Plainview on Tuesday evening (April 30, 2019). The picture is courtesy of David Garcia.
Hail that fell east of Plainview on Tuesday evening (April 30, 2019). The picture is courtesy of David Garcia.

 

Below are a couple of different views of the severe thunderstorms that tracked across the South Plains and Rolling Plains Tuesday afternoon and evening.

 

View of storm from Plainview Tuesday evening (30 April 2019). The image is courtesy of Storm Search 7. View of storm near Lake Alan Henry on Tuesday afternoon (30 April 2019). The image is courtesy of KAMC. 
Several views of storms Tuesday evening (30 April 2019). The left view is from Plainview (courtesy of Storm Search 7) and the right is from Lake Alan Henry (courtesy of KAMC). 

 

The below radar imagery shows the two most intense storms of the day clearly. The first was the storm that formed near the warm front and tracked across southern portions of Garza, Kent and Stonewall Counties. The other long-duration supercell was a storm that developed west of Littlefield and then tracked steadily eastward through the late afternoon and evening hours, eventually affecting locations between Childress and Paducah.

 

Lubbock radar animation valid from 3:39 pm to 7:11 pm on 30 April 2019.
Lubbock radar animation valid from 3:39 pm to 7:11 pm on 30 April 2019.

 

Tuesday's round of thunderstorms brought additional swaths of heavy rainfall to the region. As one might expect, the highest rain totals, near and above an inch, were associated with the two strongest storms of the day. Even outside of the thunderstorms, many locations did receive light rain totals thanks to early day drizzle, showers and thunderstorms. In fact, one early morning storm briefly became severe as it lifted into the south-central Texas Panhandle. A radar animation of the early day activity, valid from 7:27 am to 9:10 am, can be FOUND HERE.

 

24-hour radar-estimated and bias-corrected rainfall totals ending at 8 am on 1 May 2019.
24-hour radar-estimated and bias-corrected rainfall totals ending at 8 am on 1 May 2019.

 

The following day (Wednesday, 1 May 2019) the main action area shifted eastward, with the southern Rolling Plains on the western edge of the thunderstorm activity. Storms exploded along a lingering frontal boundary that clipped southern Stonewall County early Wednesday afternoon.  Very strong instability supported quick intensification and a fast transition to supercell thunderstorms.

 

Lubbock radar animation valid from 2:35 pm to 4:40 pm on 1 May 2019.
Lubbock radar animation valid from 2:35 pm to 4:40 pm on 1 May 2019. An additional radar animation, valid from 6:49 pm to 9:27 pm can be VIEWED HERE.

 

Very large hail likely fell with the most intense storms over rural parts of Stonewall County, though we only received verification of golf ball size hail east of Aspermont. In addition, one rotating storm did produce a low-hanging wall cloud as it moved just east of Aspermont, though no known tornado. However, a couple of tornadoes were reported not too far away, one southeast of Haskell and a second north of Throckmorton.

 

Wall cloud viewed east of Aspermont around 4 pm on 1 May 2019. The picture is courtesy of Joe Ponce.
Wall cloud viewed east of Aspermont around 4 pm on 1 May 2019. The picture is courtesy of Joe Ponce.

 

Even as the storm intensity eased through the evening hours, thunderstorms continued to regenerate over portions of Stonewall County, producing rounds of heavy rain there. A couple of inches or more rain fell over the southeast corner of Stonewall County generally near and south of Old Glory, creating flooding concerns there.

 

24-hour radar-estimated and bias-corrected rainfall totals ending at noon on 7 am on 2 May 2019.
24-hour radar-estimated and bias-corrected rainfall totals ending at noon on 7 am on 2 May 2019. The rain totals measured by the West Texas Mesonet sites can also be SEEN HERE.

 

A list of the preliminary storm reports for April 27th and 30th can be viewed below.

 

 

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
1034 PM CDT SAT APR 27 2019

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

0240 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 8 WSW SUNDOWN           33.39N 102.61W
04/27/2019  M65 MPH          COCHRAN            TX   MESONET

            WEST TEXAS MESONET REPORT

0505 PM     HAIL             FLOYDADA                33.98N 101.34W
04/27/2019  E1.50 INCH       FLOYD              TX   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            HAIL WAS JUST STARTING.

0510 PM     HAIL             7 W DICKENS             33.62N 100.95W
04/27/2019  E1.25 INCH       DICKENS            TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TRAINED STORM SPOTTER REPORTED VIA TWITTER BOTH QUARTER
            AND HALF-DOLLAR SIZED HAIL

0512 PM     HAIL             FLOYDADA                33.98N 101.34W
04/27/2019  E1.00 INCH       FLOYD              TX   CO-OP OBSERVER

            HAIL WAS ENDING. LOTS OF HAIL UP TO 1" DIAMETER. WINDS
            GUSTING 40-50MPH.

0518 PM     HAIL             5 W SPUR                33.48N 100.94W
04/27/2019  E1.25 INCH       DICKENS            TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

0613 PM     FLOOD            SPUR                    33.48N 100.85W
04/27/2019                   DICKENS            TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS MAIN ROAD THROUGH SPUR PASSABLE
            BUT SIDE ROADS HAVE 1-1.5FT OF SLOW RUNNING WATER. THOSE
            ARE NOT PASSABLE ATTM.

0625 PM     HAIL             6 SE SPUR               33.42N 100.78W
04/27/2019  M1.00 INCH       DICKENS            TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            HAIL FALLING AT TIME OF REPORT

0630 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 SSE JAYTON            33.23N 100.57W
04/27/2019  M63 MPH          KENT               TX   MESONET

0645 PM     HAIL             2 SE JAYTON             33.23N 100.55W
04/27/2019  E2.75 INCH       KENT               TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

0654 PM     HAIL             2 N PEACOCK             33.21N 100.40W
04/27/2019  E1.50 INCH       STONEWALL          TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TRAINED SPOTTER FOUND THE HAIL ON THE GROUND AFTER
            STORM PASSED

0657 PM     TORNADO          3 W PEACOCK             33.18N 100.45W
04/27/2019                   STONEWALL          TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            ESTIMATED LOCATION

0703 PM     HAIL             5 W SWENSON             33.21N 100.40W
04/27/2019  E2.75 INCH       STONEWALL          TX   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            HAIL BROKE OUT WINDSHIELD OF SHERIFF CAR

0709 PM     HAIL             1 N PEACOCK             33.20N 100.40W
04/27/2019  M2.00 INCH       STONEWALL          TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

0711 PM     HAIL             ASPERMONT               33.14N 100.22W
04/27/2019  E1.25 INCH       STONEWALL          TX   CO-OP OBSERVER

            HAIL WAS GETTING LARGER BUT OBSERVER NEEDED TO GO TAKE
            SHELTER FROM POSSIBLE TORNADO

0715 PM     HAIL             ASPERMONT               33.14N 100.22W
04/27/2019  M1.50 INCH       STONEWALL          TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

0725 PM     HAIL             2 E ASPERMONT           33.14N 100.19W
04/27/2019  E1.00 INCH       STONEWALL          TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            FALLING NOW, WIND DRIVEN HAIL

 

 
 

 

 

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