Christmas Weekend brings the gift of thunderstorms (23 December 2023)

Christmas Weekend brings the gift of thunderstorms 23 December 2023

Ominous scene with heavy rain, gusty winds and the sun trying to peak out in southern Lubbock at 4:16 pm on Saturday evening (23 December 2023).

A powerful storm system, the same one that brought flooding rains and heavy mountain snows to portions of California earlier in the week, affected West Texas to kick off the Christmas Holiday Weekend. Lift and moisture from the approaching system, interacting with decent levels of low-level Gulf of Mexico moisture, supplied abundant clouds and scattered showers, even a few rumbles of thunder, Saturday morning (23 December).


Regional water vapor satellite animation valid from 9:51 am to 10:56 am on Saturday (23 December 2023). A well-defined counter-clockwise circulation (mid-upper level storm system) is seen advancing from eastern Arizona into western New Mexico.

The morning activity was on the light side. However, an increase in instability provided the fuel for more robust thunderstorm develop as thrust of the upper level system moved across South Plains region late Saturday afternoon into Saturday evening.


Lubbock WSR-88D radar animation valid from 2:36 pm to 4:56 pm on Saturday (23 December 2023).

The activity that produced the strong to severe wind gusts over the southwest Texas Panhandle quickly filled in farther to the south, eventually forming into a continuous line from southeastern Texas Panhandle into the northern Permian Basin.


"RGB-True Color" satellite animation valid from 2:36 pm to 4:56 pm on Saturday (23 December 2023).

This final line of storms, which approached Lubbock just after sunset, resulted in a picturesque, though somewhat menacing vision.


Line of thunderstorms approaching Lubbock Saturday evening. The picture is looing west and was captured at 6:02 pm.

The line of thunderstorms swept across the central and eastern South Plains, then exited the region via the Rolling Plains Saturday evening. The primary impact from this activity was a brief shot of moderate to heavy rain, though a few spots also experienced gusty winds.


Lubbock WSR-88D radar animation valid from 5:39 pm to 9:27 pm on Saturday (23 December 2023).

At the conclusion of the day, near the entire region saw at least a little rainfall, with a quarter to half inch of rain being fairly common. The exceptions were across portions of the northwestern and western South Plains, where little to no rain fell. On the other end of the pendulum, a few spots from near Abernathy up toward Memphis recorded totals near an inch.


Total rainfall measured on Saturday, December 23rd. The data are courtesy of the West Texas Mesonet and the NWS. The rainfall measured by the West Texas Mesonet (WTM) during this day can be FOUND HERE (or a close up of the Lubbock area).

Officially, the Lubbock Airport recorded 0.42 inches on Saturday. The rain raised the yearly tally to 17.61 inches, which will ensure 2023 ends just shy of the long term average of 18.33 inches. Childress fared even better, measuring 0.52 inches, which boosted their annual total to 27.95 inches. As a reference, the average yearly rainfall for Childress is 23.67 inches.