A wet weather pattern settled over the west Texas South Plains region between the 10th and the 18th of August. Intermittent heavy rainfall over the course of several days eventually led to minor flooding over portions of the extreme southwestern Panhandle and the northwestern South Plains, where storm total rainfall amounts through the week ranged between five and seven inches.
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 episode as NWS LUB wrote it up.
A wet weather pattern settled over the west Texas South Plains region between the 10th and the 18th of August. Intermittent heavy rainfall over the course of several days eventually led to minor flooding over portions of the extreme southwestern Panhandle and the northwestern South Plains, where storm total rainfall amounts through the week ranged between five and seven inches. Although water levels rose in low lying areas and playa lakes sufficiently to cause ponding of water over several highways, no significant flooding or flash flooding was reported.
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 Aug 17, 2:35 AM CST, 6 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 335 AM CDT SUN AUG 17 2008 .SHORT TERM... UPPER LOW OVER NORTHWESTERN COLORADO EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MOVING SLOWLY SOUTHWARD...TOWARD SOUTHEAST COLORADO/NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO BY MONDAY MORNING. SHORTWAVE ROUNDING BASE OF LOW AND CURRENTLY MOVING ACROSS NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO CONTRIBUTING TO DEVELOPING CLUSTER OF SHOWERS OVER THE SOUTHWEST TEXAS PANHANDLE AND EASTERN PLAINS OF NEW MEXICO. THIS CLUSTER MOVING SLOWLY TO THE EAST WITH OTHER SHOWERS DEVELOPING TO THE SOUTH. WILL THUS CONTINUE LIKELY POPS FOR THIS MORNING. EXPECT LIKE THE PAST FEW DAYS THERE TO BE RESPITE LATER THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON. AS SYNOPTIC PATTERN NOT CHANGING MUCH...EXPECT THERE WILL BE ANOTHER ROUND OF CONVECTION DEVELOPING OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NEW MEXICO LATER TODAY...THEN MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT. HAVE THUS INCREASED POPS FOR TONIGHT AND DECIDED TO EXTEND FFA THROUGH 12Z ON MONDAY. WITH CLOUD COVER AND PRECIPITATION...TEMPERATURES TO CONTINUE ON THE COOL SIDE. && .LONG TERM... LATEST GFS AND NAM RUNS INDICATE THE POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD SHOWER AND TSTM ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE MORNING HRS MONDAY AS THE UPPER LOW SLIDES SOUTH THROUGH THE PANHANDLES INTO THE SPLNS AND ROLLING PLAINS. HAVE UPPED POPS INTO THE HIGH CHC/LOW LIKELY CATS THROUGH MON AFTN. HEAVY RAIN WILL STILL POSSIBLE AT THIS POINT...IT DOES APPEAR THAT THE HVY RAIN POTENTIAL WILL SLOWLY BE SHIFTING SOUTHEAST DURING THE DAY...HOPEFULLY GIVING THE CAPROCK A BREAK...BUT THIS WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED. CONTINUED WITH A CHC OF PRECIP MON NIGHT...WITH HIGHEST POPS IN THE SOUTHEAST. AN INTERESTING FCST FOLLOWS FOR TUESDAY. THE UPPER LOW CENTER IS FCST TO BE LOCATED SOMEWHERE NEAR THE RED RIVER VALLEY...PERHAPS NEAR WICHITA FALLS. WHILE THE SYNOPTIC-SCALE ASCENT SHOULD BE WELL EAST OF THE FA BY THAT TIME...IF WE DO GET CLEARING SKIES...THERE SHOULD STILL BE SUFFICIENT COLD AIR ALOFT AND PLENTY OF NERLY UPSLOPE FLOW FOR TSTM ACTIVITY TO DEVELOP IN THE AFTN HRS...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE CAPROCK AND EAST. HOWEVER...WE MAY STAY TOO CLOUDY/COOL FOR MUCH LOW-LVL INSTABILITY TO DEVELOP. FOR NOW HAVE CONTINUED SLGT CHC POPS WEST/CHC EAST. THE LOW SHOULD BE FAR ENOUGH EAST BY WED FOR CLEARING SKIES AND DECREASING PRECIP CHCS. A LINGERING TROUGH/WEAKNESS MAY LINGER ACROSS CENTRAL/EAST TX THROUGH FRI...WHICH MAY SLIGHTLY TEMPER OUR WARM UP BUT PRECIP CHCS SHOULD REMAIN TO THE EAST. WEAK UPPER RIDGING LOOKS TO BUILD EASTWARD INTO WEST TEXAS THIS WEEKEND BUT AT THE SAME TIME A FAIRLY STRONG TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NRN STATES. THE LATEST GFS AND ECMWF DIFFER ON THE DETAILS BUT BOTH INDICATE THE POTENTIAL FOR ANOTHER COLD FRONT ARRIVING SAT OR SUN ALONG WITH BETTER NW FLOW ALOFT. THIS MAY HERALD OUR NEXT CHC FOR PRECIP...FOR NOW HAVE BROUGHT POPS UP ACROSS THE NORTH BUT KEPT BELOW MENTION. AS FAR AS TEMPS GO...WE EXPECT TO REMAIN IN THE 70S TO LOWER 80S MON...AND PERHAPS 5 DEGREES OR SO WARMER ON TUE DEPENDING ON THE CLOUD COVER. THE REAL WARM UP SHOULD BE ON WED/THU/FRI AS WE GET BACK INTO THE 80S AND 90S...HAVE SLIGHTLY UNDERCUT MOS TEMPS IN THIS TIME FRAME. TEMPS MAY SLIDE SOUTH AGAIN FOR THE WEEKEND WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THAT FRONT. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FRIONA 73 59 72 58 80 / 60 60 50 30 20 TULIA 74 59 72 60 80 / 60 60 60 30 20 PLAINVIEW 74 60 73 61 80 / 70 60 60 30 20 LEVELLAND 75 61 75 62 80 / 70 60 40 30 20 LUBBOCK 76 62 74 63 80 / 70 60 50 30 20 DENVER CITY 74 61 78 63 81 / 70 60 40 30 20 BROWNFIELD 74 62 76 63 80 / 70 60 40 30 20 CHILDRESS 74 64 77 66 83 / 60 60 60 40 30 SPUR 75 63 76 65 82 / 60 60 60 40 30 ASPERMONT 77 64 78 65 84 / 60 60 50 40 30 && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MONDAY MORNING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: TXZ021>024-027>030-033>036-039>042. && 08/33
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 558 AM CDT SUN AUG 17 2008 TXZ021>044-181100- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 558 AM CDT SUN AUG 17 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT FLOODING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN EXPECTED TO MOVE OUT OF EASTERN NEW MEXICO AND INTO THE REGION TONIGHT. THIS ACTIVITY WILL BRING A POTENTIAL FOR MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL. WITH THE SATURATED SOILS ALREADY IN PLACE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE REGION...THE ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL WILL LIKELY RESULT IN FLOODING CONCERNS. FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL BE MOST COMMON BUT A MORE LOCALIZED FLASH FLOOD THREAT WILL ALSO EXIST ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA ON THE CAPROCK...WHERE THE HEAVIEST RAINS HAVE FALLEN. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR LOCATIONS ON THE CAPROCK THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE DAY MONDAY. SOME OF THESE WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AND MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING. THE STORM ACTIVITY AND ASSOCIATED FLOODING RISK IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY DIMINISHING MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
The Texas Department of Transportation reportedly monitored water flowing over U.S. Highway 86 in the Dimmitt vicinity following persistent and heavy rainfall. The roadway remained passable and no road closures were required.
Local law enforcement officials reported that heavy rainfall caused minor flooding of low lying areas, including a number of roadways, across Parmer County. Water reportedly ponded over Farm to Market Road 2013 west of Friona in addition to several roadways in the Farwell vicinity. No road closures were required.
Local officials reported that heavy rainfall caused minor flooding and ponding of water over portions of U.S. Highway 70 near Earth. No road closures were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2008
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: 120851, 120856, 120865.