Widespread rain and isolated severe storms 2-3 August 2020

Widespread rain and isolated severe storms
2-3 August 2020

Lubbock WSR-88D radar animation valid from to 2:27 pm to 8:22 pm on 2 August 2020.

Hot temperatures, sufficient moisture and a weak passing upper level disturbance provided a couple of rounds of thunderstorms for the South Plains region from Sunday afternoon and evening into early Monday morning (2-3 August). As temperatures peaked near 100 degrees, scattered thunderstorms formed across the southeastern Texas Panhandle. This activity moved south-southeastward through the evening hours, dropping locally heavy rain and generating isolated severe wind gusts across the Rolling Plains.

Meteorgram from the White River Lake 6NW West Texas Mesonet site on Sunday, 2 August 2020.

One storm produced a 60 mph wind gust as it moved across the Northfield West Texas Mesonet, while another storm generated a 98 mph gust as it moved over the White River Lake Mesonet located 6 miles northwest of the community of White River Lake. This extreme gust was accompanied by very intense rain, dropping 1.11 inches of rain, much of which fell in 15 minutes. Thankfully the extreme wind was localized and did no known damage.

Regional radar animation valid from 8:28 pm to 9:38 pm on 3 August 2020.

After a brief break, a broad area of showers and thunderstorms moved out of eastern New Mexico and across the South Plains late Sunday evening and lingered into early Monday morning. This activity generated gusty winds, though not to the same magnitude as the earlier storms that traversed the Rolling Plains.


Peak wind gusts measured by the West Texas Mesonet on 2 August 2020.

In total, most of the region received at least a little rain between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. The heaviest rain, in excess of an inch, fell in narrow swaths over parts of Cottle, Crosby and Garza Counties. Most spots on the Caprock measured a tenth to half inch of rain, with locally higher amounts.

24-hour radar-estimated and bias-corrected rain totals ending at noon on 3 August 2020. The 24 hour rain totals measured by the West Texas Mesonet can be VIEWED HERE.

The preliminary storm reports for this early August event can be viewed below.

Storm Reports for August 2, 2020

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
623 PM CDT SUN AUG 02 2020

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

0550 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 S NORTHFIELD          34.27N 100.60W
08/02/2020  M60 MPH          MOTLEY             TX   MESONET

            MEASURED BY THE WEST TEXAS MESONET

0555 PM     TSTM WND GST     6 NW WHITE RIVER LAKE   33.53N 101.17W
08/02/2020  M70 MPH          CROSBY             TX   MESONET

            MEASURED BY THE WEST TEXAS MESONET

0605 PM     TSTM WND GST     6 NW WHITE RIVER LAKE   33.53N 101.17W
08/02/2020  M98 MPH          CROSBY             TX   MESONET

            MEASURED BY THE WEST TEXAS MESONET. ADDITIONALLY, A
            WIND GUST OF 82 MPH WAS OBSERVED AT 6 PM AND 70 MPH AT
            555 PM.

NWS Damage Survey for July 9, 2020

NWS Damage Survey 
Wind Damage near Memphis and Estelline Texas in eastern Hall and 
far western Childress Counties

The survey found considerable damage to homes, metal structures and 
other outbuildings and trees at several homesteads along Route 86 to 
the west of Estelline and at another homestead roughly 7 miles 
south-southeast of Memphis.  

The damage was found to be in generally uniform in direction from 
northeast to southwest or southeast to northwest and in a broadly 
divergent pattern indicative of severe straight line winds associated 
with microbursts. 

Damage indicators ranged from the 60 mph to 100 mph range for 
estimated wind speeds. These indicators included broken glass in doors 
and windows, failure of porch/carport, hardwood tree trunk snapped, 
and failure of metal systems building anchorage, which provided the 
100 mph rating.

Additional Information (not surveyed):

Per James Edwards, roughly 15 power poles were "downed" and 
several center pivots were overturned across eastern Hall County to near 
Tell (in far southwest Childress County)

WTM GUSTS:
MEMPHIS: 63 MPH from SE at 630 PM CDT
NORTHFIELD: 56 MPH from NE at 740 PM CDT
ESTELLINE: 56 MPH from SE at 750 PM CDT
LESLEY: 49 MPH GUST FROM E at 749 PM CDT


Survey was conducted by NWS Lubbock and James Edwards, Hall County 
Emergency Manager

EF Rating: EF-1
Estimated Peak Wind: 80-100 MPH

Path length:         25 miles
Path width:          15 miles
Fatalities:          0
Injuries:            0

Start date:          07/09/2020
Approx. Start time:  6:15 PM CDT

End date:            07/09/2020
Approx. End time:    8:15 PM CDT

* Note that a combination of the damage survey, radar data, and West 
Texas Mesonet data was used to estimate the times and areal extent of 
the damage. This data is considered preliminary.