3 hail, 2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Lubbock, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 12, 2:10 PM CST, 15 minutes earlier.
SOUTH PLAINS AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
310 PM CDT SAT MAY 12 2001
IS THIS JULY OR AUGUST???
BOUNDARIES...BOUNDARIES...BOUNDARIES AND AFTERNOON HEATING ASSISTING
IN CURRENT THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT MOVED
INTO THE AREA LAST NIGHT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN LOCATED NORTHWEST TO
SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE CENTRAL COUNTY WARNING AREA. A COUPLE OF
CONVECTIVELY INDUCED VORTICES WERE NOTED NEAR JCT AND OVER SOUTHEAST
NEW MEXICO. WILL DECIDE AT PRESS TIME ON RAIN CHANCES (WIDELY
SCATTERED TO SCATTERED). THIS BOUNDARY SHOULD WASH OUT AS SOUTHERLY
FLOW INCREASES ON SUNDAY. MODELS WILL CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH MESO
SCALE FEATURES THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS RIDGE CONTINUES ALOFT. CANT RULE
OUT A THUNDERSTORM ON SUNDAY..ESPECIALLY WEST...BUT WILL NOT MENTION
IN THE ZONES FOR NOW. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO GRADUALLY INCREASE
THROUGH MID WEEK AS UPPER RIDGE SHIFTS EAST. NOT MUCH AGREEMENT IN
THE EXTENDED MODELS. WILL TREND WITH THE MRF AND CARRY LOW RAIN
CHANCES THROUGH SATURDAY. MRF BRINGS ANOTHER FRONT INTO THE AREA
FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY AND HAVE TRENDED A LITTLE COOLER.
FRIONA 56/81/56/84 4111 TULIA 57/82/57/86 3111
BROWNFIELD 58/85/59/89 4111 LUBBOCK 58/83/59/88 3111
CHILDRESS 61/84/61/88 1111 ASPERMONT 62/84/64/88 3111
.LUB...NONE.
MMTXZ021>044-122000- AREA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1130 AM CDT SAT MAY 12 2001 NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT FOR THE SOUTH PLAINS...THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE OR THE LOW ROLLING PLAINS. ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND DAYTIME HEATING WILL PRODUCE A MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM THIS AFTERNOON AND LINGER INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS BEFORE DISSIPATING. WITH WEAK WIND SHEAR AND LESS INSTABILITY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED. >
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 hail, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
The Friona City Manager reported a tornado south of town. The tornado stayed in open country and was videotaped by a citizen. No NWS storm survey was conducted.
A tornado was reported in open country by law enforcement officials just west of Farm-to-Market Road 1057 south of town. The tornado, which remained nearly stationary, was videotaped by a citizen. No NWS storm survey was conducted.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2001Warnings in Texas, May 2001
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5249121, 5249119, 5249117, 5249118, 5249120.