Power Outage in Shallowater, TX

A powerful late winter cold front plowed through the region from late in the morning on the 16th into the afternoon hours. Strong winds were observed both ahead of the front and in the post frontal airmass. Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet sites near Amherst (Lamb County) measured a wind gust to 58 mph while a site near Morton (Cochran County) measured a wind gust to 60 mph. The Automated Surface Observing System at Lubbock International Airport (Lubbock County) measured a wind gust of 60 mph.

March 16, 2023

The second powerful winter storm to affect the region in less than a week brought another round of highly impactful weather to West Texas. The powerful winter storm system accelerated through the Four Corners and emerged across the central and southern High Plains on the afternoon of the 26th. As this occurred, rapidly deepening low pressure, in combination with a dryline and Pacific cold front, increased the wind dramatically across the entire region. Initially gusty southerly winds not only transported moisture northward, but began to loft enough blowing dust to turn the sky an orange/brown color by mid-afternoon. As the Pacific front raced out of eastern New Mexico, the wind and dust levels increased and became dangerous. Widespread severe wind gusts lofted copious amounts of dust, dropping the visibility to and below one quarter mile in most locations on the Caprock through the late afternoon hours. The thick dust made travel difficult to impossible and contributed to several vehicle accidents around the region. Severe winds also brought down numerous utility poles across the South Plains. When the cold front overtook the dryline, widespread showers and thunderstorms filled in over the southeast Texas Panhandle into the Rolling Plains. The storms did provide a little rain in spots as a quick-moving line raced eastward, but they also enhanced the wind and a few locations even experienced hail, as large as golf balls in Memphis (Hall County). Wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph were common with the strongest thunderstorm activity, but the West Texas Mesonet site one mile northeast of Memphis (Hall County) recorded an impressive 114 mph gust. Thankfully, this magnitude of wind appeared quite localized, though the town of Memphis did have some damage, both from the wind and wind-driven hail. Several windows were broken, roofs were damaged and carports were destroyed. Behind the dryline, the intense winds and warm and much drier air created a period of critical fire weather. These conditions supported the ignition and spread of several wildfires on the South Plains, including one west of Levelland (Hockley County) and a second in northwest Lamb County.||High wind gust reports from the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet are listed below:||84 mph at Paducah (Cottle County),|82 mph at Hart (Castro County),|82 mph at White River Lake (Crosby County),|79 mph at Friona (Parmer County),|78 mph at Amherst (Lamb County),|78 mph at Plainview (Hale County),|77 mph at Dimmitt (Castro County),|77 mph at McAdoo (Dickens County),|77 mph at Lubbock 4E (Lubbock County),|77 mph at Anton (Hockley County),|76 mph at Roaring Springs (Motley County),|75 mph at Olton (Lamb County),|75 mph at Floydada (Floyd County),|75 mph at Levelland (Hockley County),|75 mph at Graham (Garza County),|75 mph at Plains (Yoakum County),|75 mph at Denver City (Yoakum County),|74 mph at Aiken (Hale County),|74 mph at Lesley (Hall County),|73 mph at Tulia (Swisher County),|73 mph at Silverton (Briscoe County),|73 mph at Ralls (Crosby County),|73 mph at Muleshoe (Bailey County),|73 mph at Earth (Lamb County),|72 mph at Northfield (Motley County),|72 mph at Vigo Park (Swisher County),|72 mph at Wolfforth (Lubbock County),|72 mph at Reese Center (Lubbock County),|72 mph at Abernathy (Hale County),|72 mph at Morton (Cochran County),|71 mph at Hackberry (Cottle County),|71 mph at Lubbock Texas Tech University (Lubbock County),|71 mph at Sundown (Cochran County),|71 mph at South Plains (Floyd County),|70 mph at Childress (Childress County),|70 mph at Lubbock 6SSW (Lubbock County),|70 mph at New Deal (Lubbock County),|69 mph at Happy (Swisher County),|69 mph at Post (Garza County),|69 mph at Caprock Canyons State Park (Briscoe County),|69 mph at Spur (Dickens County),|69 mph at Guthrie (King County),|68 mph at O'Donnell (Lynn County),|68 mph at Slaton (Lubbock County),|67 mph at Turkey (Hall County),|67 mph at Brownfield (Terry County),|64 mph at Tahoka (Lynn County),|64 mph at Lubbock 4SE (Lubbock County),|62 mph at Estelline (Hall County),|60 mph at New Home (Lynn County), and|58 mph at White River Lake (Garza County).||Maximum wind gusts from area ASOS and AWOS stations are listed below:||78 mph at Childress Municipal Airport (Childress County),|77 mph at Lubbock International Airport (Lubbock County),|75 mph at Levelland Municipal Airport (Hockley County), and|63 mph at Hale County Airport (Hale County).

February 26, 2023

A strong storm rapidly ejected into the central High Plains early on the 14th. This caused dry and intense sinking westerly flow around the south side of the system to sweep across the southern High Plains during the morning. Winds quickly increased in the morning, peaking between mid-morning and midday before gradually decreasing through the afternoon hours. Nearly all of West Texas was inflicted by wind gusts in excess of 50 mph. Peak wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph were common across the southern Texas Panhandle and adjacent northern and central South and Rolling Plains. The intense winds did cause areas of property damage, including rolling multiple semi-tractor trailers off Interstate-27 south of Tulia (Swisher County), where the cross-wind was maximized. In Lubbock County, several power poles were blown over. The wind also lofted copious amounts of dust, which further contributed to travel difficulties.||Maximum wind gusts from the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet are listed below:||72 mph at Silverton (Briscoe County),|72 mph at Turkey (Hall County),|72 mph at Roaring Springs (Motley County),|71 mph at Caprock Canyons State Park (Briscoe County),|71 mph at Amherst (Lamb County),|69 mph at Hart (Castro County),|68 mph at Tulia (Swisher County),|68 mph at Floydada (Floyd County),|68 mph at Northfield (Motley County),|67 mph at Aiken (Hale County),|67 mph at Abernathy (Hale County),|66 mph at Dimmitt (Castro County),|66 mph at Olton (Lamb County),|65 mph at New Deal (Lubbock County),|65 mph at Graham (Garza County),|64 mph at Plainview (Hale County),|64 mph at Post (Garza County),|64 mph at Muleshoe (Bailey County),|64 mph at Anton (Hockley County),|63 mph at Friona (Parmer County),|63 mph at Earth (Lamb County),|63 mph at Slaton (Lubbock County),|63 mph at Vigo Park (Swisher County),|63 mph at McAdoo (Dickens County),|63 mph at Childress (Childress County),|62 mph at Reese Center (Lubbock County),|61 mph at Ralls (Crosby County),|60 mph at White River Lake (Crosby County),|60 mph at Aspermont (Stonewall County),|60 mph at Happy (Swisher County),|60 mph at Paducah (Cottle County),|59 mph at Memphis (Hall County),|59 mph at Morton (Cochran County),|59 mph at South Plains (Floyd County),|59 mph at Levelland (Hockley County),|59 mph at Texas Tech University (Lubbock County),|59 mph at Guthrie (King County),|59 mph at Plains (Yoakum County),|58 mph at Lesley (Hall County),|58 mph at Hackberry (Cottle County),|58 mph at Smyer (Hockley County), and|58 mph at Wolfforth (Lubbock County).||Maximum sustained winds from the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet are listed below:||47 mph at New Home (Lynn County),|46 mph at Tahoka (Lynn County),|44 mph at O'Donnell (Lynn County), and|44 mph at Brownfield (Terry County).||Maximum wind gusts from area ASOS and AWOS stations are listed below:||69 mph at Lubbock International Airport (Lubbock County),|64 mph at Childress Municipal Airport (Childress County),|62 mph at Hale County Airport (Hale County), and|62 mph at Levelland Municipal Airport (Hockley County).

February 14, 2023

On the afternoon of the 28th, scattered thunderstorms developed over the central and southwestern South Plains within a low level convergence zone from a surface pressure trough. Hot temperatures and well above average moisture levels fueled the development of convection as it slowly moved to the east. These slow moving storms brought severe wind gusts and widespread flooding to parts of Lubbock and Lynn Counties. These severe winds caused damage within the cities of Lubbock (Lubbock County) and Tahoka (Lynn County), primarily snapping power poles and downing trees and fences. The slow moving nature of the storms combined with the abundant moisture in the atmosphere allowed for extremely heavy rainfall over Lynn County. Several underpasses were flooded along US Highway 87 along with reports of water over the roadway between Tahoka and the Lubbock/Lynn County line.

August 28, 2022

Thunderstorm Wind. A thunderstorm that moved over central Lubbock County produced widespread damage across the central portion of the city of Lubbock. Multiple power poles were snapped along with downed trees and fences. At the same time, a wind gust to 58 mph was reported by a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near New Deal at 1635 CST.

August 28, 2022

Forecasters said the storm system would continue its eastward march Friday. https://t.co/2wZpUTjNpc

@KCBD11 - March 03, 2023 13:21

Did you get any wind damage? Here's a look at the aftermath of Sunday's dust storm in Lubbock and across the South… https://t.co/CIX2GngLCn

@KLBKNews - February 27, 2023 23:55

HIGH WIND WARNING NOON - 2 AM CST MON: SW to W wind 35-50 mph, gusts up to 75 mph, expected. Property damage, power… https://t.co/SIp8oQP0xP

@DivineWeather - February 26, 2023 13:14

Lubbock, TX (9:19 AM) Grid Power Outage Event >> The Ting Network detected an Electric Utility Grid Power Outage ev… https://t.co/jqBEJeKRUy

@grid_events - February 20, 2023 15:30

➡️LBKAlert is the City’s emergency notification system It enables the City to quickly share critical info with cit… https://t.co/M2JIr0MZV8

@cityoflubbock - February 19, 2023 02:42