Power Outage in Littlefield, TX

Broadcast media relayed a report of a power line down on US 385 just north of the Hockley/Lamb County line. The same thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 66 mph at Amherst a short while later.

Law enforcement in Lamb County reported several power poles blown down in the city of Littlefield.

A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Olton measured a wind gust to 75 mph. Furthermore, a NWS cooperative weather observed several power poles down along US Highway 84 southeast of Littlefield.

A trained spotter in Littlefield measured a gust to 75 mph with an anemometer mounted on top of his barn. Furthermore, numerous power poles were downed to the east and south of Littlefield due to high winds.

Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet stations measured wind gusts ranging from 58 mph south of Olton to 81 mph near Amherst. Damage was noted to about a dozen power poles and a few dilapidated outbuildings.

A trained spotter reported downed power lines at the intersection of FM Road 303 and FM Road 37.

A swath of severe winds accompanied a complex of thunderstorms over central and northeastern portions of Lamb County during the evening hours of the 25th. A 59 mph wind gust was initially recorded by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site near Amherst at 17:50 CST. A wind gust up to 66 mph also was recorded by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet south of Olton at 18:35 CST. Local officials and newspapers additionally reported light damage in the city of Littlefield. A fence was blown down at the Littlefield High School, and a roof was partially blown off of a building. Several power lines also were blown down. Widespread blowing dust also accompanied the winds.

Law enforcement officials reported that thunderstorm winds downed power lines in the Earth and Littlefield vicinities. The Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site south of Olton additionally recorded a severe thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph as the storms quickly moved northeastward through northeastern Lamb County. |

Strong to severe westerly winds brought blowing dust and minor damage to the South Plains region of west Texas. The winds additioanally fanned raging wildfires. Winds over the South Plains region of west Texas gusted as high as 66 MPH. This downed power lines and caused light roof damage. Around 14:00 CST, severe wind gusts caused a tractor-trailer to roll over while traveling along Interstate 27 near Abernathy (Hale County). The driver walked away with no injuries. Numerous homes across the region lost shingles from roofs, particularly in Lubbock. Neither significant structural damage nor injuries were reported. A list of severe wind gusts recorded by the Texas Tech West Texas Mesonet and area observing stations follows:Abernathy (Hale County).........58 MPHAmherst (Lamb County)..........59 MPHChildress (Childress County)...58 MPHDimmitt (Castro County).........62 MPHFloydada (Floyd County).........58 MPHFriona (Parmer County)...........65 MPHGraham (Garza County)..........66 MPHHart (Castro County)...............61MPHMemphis (Hall County)...........60 MPHMuleshoe (Bailey County).......61 MPHOlton (Lamb County)..............60 MPHPaducah (Cottle County)..........58 MPHPlainview (Hale County)..........58 MPHPost (Garza County)................62 MPHTahoka (Lynn County)............58 MPHTulia (Swisher County)...........60 MPHSilverton (Briscoe County)......64 MPHWolfforth (Lubbock County)....59MPH

Strong thunderstorm wind downed power poles.

Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power poles.

A meteorologist with the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District reported 71mph thunderstorm wind gusts. These strong outflow winds destroyed a trailer house, damaged the roofs of several homes, downed power lines and snapped power poles within two miles of the airport on Farm-to-Market Road 54. Some of this damage may have been the result of locally enhanced winds due to a strong gustnado (a brief, shallow eddy not extending to the thunderstorm cloudbase) that developed along the leading edge of the thunderstorm outflow.

Thunderstorm outflow blew the roof off of a house and downed power lines and power poles northwest of town. This damage may have been the result of a strong gustnado that developed on the leading edge of the outflow.

Strong thunderstorm wind blew down power lines, snapped power poles, and produced minor damage to the roofs of buildings.

Isolated, very high-based showers and thunderstorms moved southeast out of eastern New Mexico this evening and tracked into the far northwest South Plains. Due to very dry sub-cloud conditions and storm bases estimated near 10,000 feet above ground level, the development of strong evaporative cooling led to several instances of downburst winds and blowing dust within the path of one of these storms as it roughly paralleled Highway 84 between Muleshoe and Spade. These winds caused damage to three power poles in southeast Lamb County.

Lightning strikes from severe storms on the evening of the 27th started several wildfires. Three of these wildfires flared up during the afternoon hours of the 28th. One wildfire started in Lamb county and was known as the Tolk Plant Fire. An energy power plant was threatened but no damage was reported. This fire burned a total of 750 acres. Two additional wildfires flared up in Bailey County near the Lamb/Bailey County line near and north of of U.S. Highway 84. These two fires prompted the closure of U.S. Highway 84 between Muleshoe (Bailey County) and Sudan (Lamb County). Visibility was near zero on U.S. Highway 84 due to the smoke from the wildfire. These two fires burned a total of 5,900 acres.

Strong westerly winds sustained at speeds near 30 mph to 35 mph, record high temperatures, and relative humidity values less than 10% contributed to critical fire weather on the South Plains on the 15th. ||A wildfire quickly grew from an ignition source along U.S. Highway 70 west of Earth (Lamb County) around 11:15 CST. The fire jumped the four-lane U.S. Highway and then ran through grasslands. At least seven structures were threatened and saved. The fire burned 1,600 acres before it was finally contained around 15:00 CST.||At 15:10 CST a fire ignited along Texas Highway 207 just north of Floydada. The fire burned through wooden utility poles and downed power lines before scorching more than 2,600 acres of grassland.||Although an estimated 4,200 acres burned, no injuries or serious damages were reported. Texas Forest Service and Department of Public Safety investigations revealed that both fires began from incidental sources along major routes, possibly from discarded cigarettes.

Following a day of record high triple digit temperatures, scattered thunderstorms erupted along a dryline over the western South Plains of west Texas. These storms produced damaging winds and hail up to the size of quarters as they progressed eastward over the South Plains through the evening hours. Wind gusts were measured as high as 63 mph with widespread blowing dust near storms. The winds damaged young cotton crops and caused power outages.

A complex wind event impacted portions of the northwestern South Plains and the extreme southwestern Texas Panhandle during the late evening hours of the 8th. ||Scattered convection moved southeastward from the plains of eastern New Mexico and the western Texas Panhandle through the evening. Pressure rises in the wake of this activity, and an associated mesoscale high pressure system beneath the convection's trailing stratiform precipitation area, resulted in a surge of southerly winds behind (north of) the thunderstorm complex over portions of Parmer County. KVII-TV Schoolnet and Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet sites recorded gusts to 61 mph and 59 mph at Lazbuddie and Friona (Parmer County) respectively between 20:03 CST and 20:10 CST. Although no significant structural damage was reported, newspaper articles suggest the winds may have contributed to downed utility lines and tree limbs and prolonged power outages in Farwell (Parmer County). ||Meanwhile, wind speeds additionally intensified along the leading edge of the thunderstorm complex. At 20:35 CST, a 58 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site near Amherst (Lamb County). No damage was reported.

An active round of severe thunderstorms, including damaging tornadoes, affected a large portion of the Southern Plains of the U.S. during the afternoon and evening hours of the 23rd. Supercell thunderstorms with a history of producing deadly tornadoes propagated northeastward from the plains of eastern New Mexico into the extreme southwestern Texas Panhandle and the western South Plains of west Texas during the evening hours. As these storms moved eastward across the state line, convective modes transitioned from classic supercells toward mini-bow segments and line-echo-waves. Despite the linear nature of the storms, extreme wind shear resulted in at least five tornadoes across the western South Plains region.|Tornadoes were initially observed in the extreme southwestern Texas Panhandle and the northwestern South Plains around 20:00 CST. The hardest hit area was the Bovina vicinity in Parmer County, where a weak tornado struck the city resulting in minor structural damage. |Severe storms producing widespread wind damage and at least one strong tornado then impacted portions of Cochran, southern Bailey, and Lamb Counties during the late evening hours. Two cotton gins in Cochran County were severely damaged, and power outages were widespread. |No injuries were reported during the severe weather outbreak on the 23rd, but property damage estimates totaled more than $400,000.

The extreme southwestern Texas Panhandle and the northwestern South Plains received a glancing blow from a powerful winter storm during the overnight hours of 29th and the morning hours of the 30th. This storm resulted in disasterous blizzard conditions north of the region, with up to 30 inches of snow that caused hardships over parts of eastern New Mexico and the western panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma. |Heavy snow accumulations were observed over parts of Parmer and Castro Counties of the extreme southwestern Texas Panhandle. Lighter snow accumulations were reported over Bailey, Cochran, and Lamb Counties in the northwestern South Plains. Although intermittent periods of snowfall began as early as the afternoon hours of the 29th, and persisted until midday on the 30th, the most intense snow occurred between the hours of 19:00 CST and 07:00 CST on those dates respectively. |Observed snow accumulations are listed below:|4 inches at Dimmitt (Castro County)|4 inches at Farwell (Parmer County)|4 inches at Friona (Parmer County)|3 inches at Muleshoe (Bailey County)|2 inches at Littlefield (Lamb County)|2 inches at Morton (Cochran County).