2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 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 23, 7:12 PM CST, 1 hour 48 minutes earlier.
SOUTH PLAINS AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 815 PM CDT FRI 23 MAY 2003 OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES...DRYLINE AND SOME UPSLOPE FLOW ALL CONTRIBUTED TO THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVER NE NEW MEXICO AND THE NW SOUTH PLAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. MOST OF THESE STORMS ADVECTED EAST IN MEAN FLOW DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. HOWEVER...STORMS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO ORGANIZE INTO A CONVECTIVE SYSTEM LAST COUPLE OF HOURS ALTHOUGH IT HAS STRUGGLED TO DO SO. LATEST BASE VELOCITY FROM KLBB RADAR SHOWS SE LOW LEVEL JET INCREASING WHICH AGREES WELL WITH 18Z RUN OF ETA. WITH INCREASE IN LOW LEVEL JET...STORMS NOW ADVECTING AND/OR PROPAGATING MORE SOUTHWARD. THE TIME PERIOD FROM 01Z TO 04Z WILL BE CRITICAL FOR THIS SYSTEM WITH RELATION TO ITS ABILITY TO MAINTAIN ITSELF WITH SUNSET. 18Z ETA SHOWS DECENT 850MB WARM AIR ADVECTION OVER SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS RIGHT THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS SO CHANCES OF A LONG LIVED MCS SEEM REASONABLE...PARTICULARLY GIVEN INCREASING COVERAGE ON RADAR AND CLOUD TOP TEMPS CONTINUING A SLOW COOLING TREND. MCS SHOULD TEND TO DEVELOP MORE INTO THE ROLLING PLAINS WHERE THE BETTER THETAE AIRMASS AND AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY EXISTS. OVERALL THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER PROBABLY DECREASING WITH LOSS OF SUNSHINE...ALTHOUGH A FEW STORMS MAY GET BETTER ORGANIZED COURTESY OF INCREASING FLOW JUST OFF THE DECK. SHOULD MCS PERSIST...THE THREAT FOR ISOLATED MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL/WIND WILL ALSO CONTINUE. .LBB...NONE. JW
TXZ021>044-240000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1135 AM CDT FRI MAY 23 2003 THIS IS A HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE... CONVECTIVE THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND LOW ROLLING PLAINS. THE SLIGHT RISK AREA IS GENERALLY NORTH OF A GUTHRIE TO POST LINE. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON IN EASTERN NEW MEXICO AND MOVE INTO THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS BY THIS EVENING. THE AXIS OF GREATEST INSTABILITY WILL INITIALLY BE OVER THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS. ONCE STORMS FROM NEW MEXICO MOVE INTO THIS REGION THEY MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SATURDAY NIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG A COLD FRONT ACROSS THE TEXAS PANHANDLE DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE STORMS WILL THEN MOVE TO THE SOUTH DURING THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS. THE STRONGEST STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY AND TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
The West Texas Mesonet station 6 NW White River Lake measured a 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
The West Texas Mesonet station southwest of Graham measured a 68 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2003
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: 5356129, 5356126, 5356127, 5356128.