A violent round of supercell thunderstorms produced giant hail over the western South Plains of west Texas during the evening hours of the 17th. The storms caused extensive damage in a number of South Plains communities including: Friona (Parmer County), Muleshoe (Bailey County), and Plains (Yoakum County).
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 violent round of supercell thunderstorms produced giant hail over the western South Plains of west Texas during the evening hours of the 17th. The storms caused extensive damage in a number of South Plains communities including: Friona (Parmer County), Muleshoe (Bailey County), and Plains (Yoakum County). In addition, area agricultural crops sustained heavy damage that resulted in severe economic losses.
Total damages sustained across the South Plains region of west Texas on the 17th were estimated to exceed $3.5 million.
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 Jun 17, 5:31 PM CST, 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 631 PM CDT TUE JUN 17 2008 .UPDATE... HAVE UPDATED PRODUCTS TO INCLUDE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 06Z OVER THE ENTIRE CWA. CURRENT CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE WERE MOVING SOUTHEASTWARD...WITH THE SOUTHERN MOST STORM BEGINNING TO SAG INTO THE EXTREME NORTHWESTERN ZONES /PARMER AND CASTRO COUNTIES/. EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY TO ORGANIZE INTO A COMPLEX THIS EVENING AND SPREAD SOUTHEAST OVER MUCH OF THE AREA TONIGHT. THE ACTIVITY WILL BRING A LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WIND THREAT WITH IT. HAVE INCREASED POPS OVER THE NORTHWEST AND NORTH-CENTRAL ZONES WHERE CONVECTION APPEARS IMMINENT...WHILE MAINTAINING ALREADY LIKELY POPS OVER MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. FEW OTHER MINOR CHANGES MADE TO THE GRIDS AS THE OVERALL INTEGRITY OF THE FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE FOR ABOVE OUTLINED EXPECTED EVOLUTION. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 317 PM CDT TUE JUN 17 2008/ SHORT TERM... 19Z SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS OUTFLOW BOUNDARY HAS MOVED INTO ERN NM WITH RELATIVELY COOL BUT HUMID AIR MASS IN ITS WAKE. EVEN WITH VEERING OF THE LOW LEVEL WINDS IT DOES NOT APPEAR THERE WILL BE MUCH LOW LEVEL FOCUS FOR CONVECTION IN THE FCST AREA LATE THIS AFTN/EARLY THIS EVENING UNLESS POSSIBLY ALONG AREA OF DIFFERENTIAL HEATING. CONVECTIVE INITIATION HAS ALREADY OCCURRED ON THE HIGH TERRAIN OF CNTL AND NERN NM AND EXPECT FURTHER DEVELOPMENT EWD INTO THE WRN TEXAS PANHANDLE. IT IS THIS ACTIVITY THAT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE SEWD IN THE NW FLOW ALOFT INTO THE FCST AREA. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT THIS WILL OCCUR AND HAVE RAISED POPS INTO THE LIKELY CATEGORY FOR ALL BUT THE SWRN QUADRANT OF THE FCST AREA. WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED SUPERCELLS THROUGH MID-EVENING WHEN EVOLUTION INTO MCS IS EXPECTED. FOR WEDNESDAY...NO OBVIOUS LOW LEVEL FOCUS PROGGED IN THE MODELS. BUT THAT COULD GO OUT THE WINDOW DEPENDING UPON RESIDUAL OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM TONIGHTS CONVECTION. EVEN THOUGH MODELS SUGGEST NO PRECIP DURING THE DAY THINK IT PRUDENT TO KEEP SLIGHT CHC POPS GOING UNTIL CONVINCED OTHERWISE. OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES COULD CAUSE HAVOC WITH TEMPS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. WILL TREND TOWARD COOLER SIDE TONIGHT BUT EXPECT BETTER RECOVERY THAN SEEN TODAY FOR THE HIGHS. LONG TERM... UPPER HIGH OVER NORTHERN MEXICO WILL CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE AREA INTO THIS WEEKEND...AFTER WHICH THE UPPER HIGH MAY MOVE MORE DIRECTLY OVER THE AREA. WHILE THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES...WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO HAVE A POTENTIAL FOR MOSTLY NIGHTTIME THUNDERSTORMS...EVEN THOUGH THAT POTENTIAL SHOULD REMAIN RELATIVELY LOW EACH NIGHT. THE CHANCES ON ANY PARTICULAR DAY ARE LIKELY TO BE INFLUENCED BY THE PREVIOUS NIGHTS STORMS. FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT...LATEST MODELS SHOW THE SIGNIFICANT RAIN CHANCES WELL NORTHEAST OF OUR FORECAST AREA...HOWEVER PREVIOUS MODELS SHOWED THE POTENTIAL CLOSER TO HOME. AS SUCH...WILL REDUCE CHANCES IN THE FORECAST SOME BUT NOT REMOVE THEM. THURSDAY NIGHT MODELS SHOW MORE ACTIVITY LOCALLY. THEN EXPECT REDUCED CHANCES OVER THE WEEKEND AS THE UPPER HIGH IS FORECAST TO BUILD MORE DIRECTLY OVER THE REGION. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FRIONA 64 94 65 96 66 / 70 20 20 20 40 TULIA 64 92 67 95 68 / 70 20 20 20 40 PLAINVIEW 63 89 68 94 68 / 70 20 20 20 30 LEVELLAND 65 93 68 95 69 / 60 20 20 20 20 LUBBOCK 66 92 70 95 69 / 60 20 20 20 20 DENVER CITY 65 93 68 94 69 / 50 20 20 10 20 BROWNFIELD 65 93 69 95 69 / 50 20 20 20 20 CHILDRESS 68 93 70 98 68 / 60 20 20 20 40 SPUR 64 92 71 99 71 / 60 20 20 20 20 ASPERMONT 68 93 71 100 73 / 60 20 20 20 20 && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 23
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1120 AM CDT TUE JUN 17 2008 TXZ021>044-181630- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 1120 AM CDT TUE JUN 17 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT CONVECTIVE THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER EASTERN NEW MEXICO...THE TEXAS PANHANDLE AND POSSIBLY THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS AS AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WESTERN OKLAHOMA EARLY TODAY MOVES TO THE WEST TOWARD THE NEW MEXICO STATE LINE. CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS TO EVOLVE INTO SUPERCELLS WITH EVENTUAL ORGANIZATION INTO A COMPLEX OF THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY. STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE TO THE SOUTHEAST AND SPREAD ACROSS THE SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS OVERNIGHT. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE THE MAIN THREATS INITIALLY WITH AN ISOLATED TORNADO A LIMITED POSSIBILITY WITH ANY SUPERCELLS THIS EVENING. THE MAIN THREATS ARE EXPECTED TO EVOLVE TOWARD DAMAGING WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AS THE NIGHT PROGRESSES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND PARTICULARLY DURING THE EVENING AND NIGHTTIME HOURS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THERE WILL BE A THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS...IN PARTICULAR A POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
234 PM CDT TUE JUN 17 2008
..TIME.. ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE.. ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION.. ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1016 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG JAYTON 33.25N 100.57W
06/16/2008 KENT TX CO-OP OBSERVER
TIN WRAPPED AROUND TREE...FIRE DEPT. ALSO REPORTED TIN
BLOWN OFF ROOFS
&&
EVENT NUMBER 00122
FBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
239 PM CDT TUE JUN 17 2008
..TIME.. ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE.. ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION.. ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1016 PM TSTM WND DMG JAYTON 33.25N 100.57W
06/16/2008 KENT TX CO-OP OBSERVER
TIN WRAPPED AROUND TREE...FIRE DEPT. ALSO REPORTED TIN
BLOWN OFF ROOFS
&&
CORRECTED EVENT
EVENT NUMBER 00122
FBSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 609 PM CDT TUE JUN 17 2008 TXZ021-022-172345- PARMER TX-CASTRO TX- 609 PM CDT TUE JUN 17 2008 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM APPROACHING CASTRO AND PARMER COUNTIES... AT 605 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE MONITORING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER DEAF SMITH COUNTY 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF BLACK...OR ABOUT 11 MILES NORTH OF FRIONA...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM CONTINUES TO INDICATE THE POSSIBILITY OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS AS IT APPROACHES BLACK AND SUMMERFIELD. BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION IF A WARNING IS ISSUED.
The Cannon AFB radar (KFDX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:15 UTC.
11 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Local law enforcement officials reported that golf ball size hail, occasionally accompanied by larger hail stones, fell steady over Friona for at least five minutes during the early evening of the 17th. This as a supercell thunderstorm impacted portions of northeastern Parmer County.
Local law enforcement officials reported that golf ball size hail was occasionally mixed with stones up to the size of baseballs in Friona. The very large hail caused widespread damage across the city, with a number of vehicles and structures sustaining hail damage. The hail punctured a portion of the town's elementary school, and subsequently contributed to flooding several class rooms. No injuries were reported.
Multiple reports indicated that a second supercell thunderstorm produced a swath of large hail, occasionally very large, over western Parmer County during the 19:00 CST hour. Initial reports relayed by the broadcast media indicated that quarter size hail occurred west of Friona at 19:00 CST. The storm and its associated hail swath continued southward, with additional reports received from areas east of Farwell at 19:43 CST.
Local fire department and law enforcement officials reported that golf ball size hail, and occasionally larger hail stones, accompanied a severe storm along U.S. Highway 70 in northwestern Lamb County.
Law enforcement officials reported giant softball size hail near U.S. Highway 70 west of Earth, just east of the Bailey and Lamb County line. The hail damaged several vehicles and a few rural residences.
The broadcast media relayed reports of giant baseball size hail ten miles east of Farwell along Farm to Market Road 145. Agricultural officials reported that cotton, wheat, and corn crops were severely damaged across portions of western and central Parmer County.
The Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet recorded a severe thunderstorm wind gust of 58 mph just south of Muleshoe. These winds are believed to have been associated with the rear flank downdraft of an intense supercell thunderstorm which went on to produce giant sized damaging hail in the city.
Emergency management officials reported that giant hail stones that ranged in size from baseballs to softballs resulted in significant damages throughout the city of Muleshoe around 20:00 CST. Numerous windshields were knocked out of vehicles and many structures sustained heavy roof and window damage. Hail even punctured the interior walls of one mobile home. No injuries were reported.
The Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site near Dimmitt recorded a severe thunderstorm wind gust of 58 mph at 20:20 CST. No damage was reported.
Multiple reports of large hail were received from the Morton vicinity shortly before 21:00 CST on the 17th. Very large hail was initially reported near the Southwest Gin south of Farm to Market Road 114 west of Morton at 20:45 CST. By 20:55 CST golf ball size hail reportedly fell in Morton. Minor damages were reported to vehicles and structures.
Baseball size hail was reported in the vicinity of the Southwest Gin around 20:45 CST. The giant hail resulted in damage to a number of cotton crops.
Law enforcement officials reported golf ball size hail in Girard. No significant damage was reported.
The Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet sire near Morton recorded a severe thunderstorm wind gust of 61 mph at 20:45 CST. No damage was reported.
The Yoakum County Sheriff's Office reported that baseball size hail smashed out many automobile windshields and punctured holes in the roofs of several mobile homes. Two Sheriff's Office cruisers sustained significant damage. Area gins and cotton farmers reported that more than 25,000 acres of cotton were destroyed east of Plains. No injuries 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, June 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: 117841, 117836, 117828, 117854, 117859, 117843, 117864, 117877, 117882, 117889, 117893, 117896, 117884, 117900.