Scattered thunderstorms developed over the extreme southeastern Texas Panhandle and the northern South Plains during the afternoon hours of the 12th as a middle atmospheric storm system moved over the area. At least one thunderstorm became severe and produced hail up to the size of nickels northwest of Childress.
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.
Scattered thunderstorms developed over the extreme southeastern Texas Panhandle and the northern South Plains during the afternoon hours of the 12th as a middle atmospheric storm system moved over the area. At least one thunderstorm became severe and produced hail up to the size of nickels northwest of Childress.
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 Apr 12, 2:34 PM CST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 334 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 .SHORT TERM... UPPER LOW MOVING ACROSS THE PNHDL ATTM WITH TWO APPARENT CENTERS ONE ASSOCIATED WITH EYE FEATURE MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN CWA. CONVECTION BLOSSOMED THIS AFTERNOON WITH HEATING UNDER COLD CORE OF SYSTEM WITH SHOWERS EXTENDING AS FAR SOUTH AS YOAKUM AND LYNN COUNTIES. BEST POTENTIAL FOR ORGANIZED STORMS REMAINS ACROSS NORTHEAST CORNER VCNTY WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY TOPPED BY STRONGER DEEP-LAYER SHEAR. AXIS OF STRETCHING POTENTIAL WITH MLCAPE 0-3KM >50 J/KG EXISTS FROM SOUTHERN PANHANDLE INTO NORTHERN SOUTH PLAINS AS WELL. MOST UNSTABLE CAPE VALUES OF 500 J/KG ALSO EXTEND WEST TO THE NEW MEXICO BORDER SO ANY STORM THAT DEVELOPS WILL HAVE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE HAIL THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO DIMINISH WITH LOSS OF HEATING BUT NOT AS QUICKLY AS EARLIER THOUGHT AS ANOTHER SPOKE OF ENERGY FORECAST TO ROTATE AROUND LOW INTO THE CENTRAL SOUTH PLAINS AFT 00Z. LEFT SOME HIGHER POPS AS A RESULT UNTIL MIDNIGHT. CDFNT WILL CONTINUE TO PASS THROUGH THE AREA THIS EVENING WITH BRIEFLY GUSTY WINDS BEFORE DIMINISHING WELL BEFORE SUNRISE. WINDS COULD BECOME BREEZY AGAIN FOR A WHILE MONDAY MORNING BEFORE SURFACE GRADIENT RELAXES. HIGHS EXPECTED MOSTLY IN 60S ON MON UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. && .LONG TERM... ATTENTION IN THE LONG TERM REMAINS FOCUSED ON PROSPECTS FOR A SLOSHING DRYLINE AND ASSOCIATED CONVECTION DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE WORK WEEK. A MID/UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE RIDGE AXIS WILL TRANSLATE OVER WEST TEXAS LATE MONDAY-TUESDAY...RESULTING IN WARMING/BENIGN WEATHER. SOUTHERLY BREEZES WILL STRENGTHEN LATE TUESDAY AS HEIGHTS BEGIN TO FALL AND A TRANSITION TOWARD SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OCCURS IN ADVANCE OF A POTENTLY DEEPENING WESTERN U.S. UA TROUGH. PRESSURE FALLS IN THE LEE BENEATH SAID FLOW APPEARS SUFFICIENT TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DRYLINE. MEDIUM RANGE SOLUTIONS...ESPECIALLY THE GFS...CONTINUE TO SHOW NOTABLE RUN-TO-RUN INCONSISTENCIES WRT DRYLINE LOCATION AND ASSOCIATED RAIN CHANCES...AS WELL AS THE OVERALL EVOLUTION DEPTH/PROGRESSIVENESS OF THE UA FEATURE ITSELF. HOWEVER CURRENT SIGNALS/TRENDS CONTINUE TO SUPPORT AT LEAST SOME PROBABILITY FOR AN ACTIVE THUNDERSTORM PERIOD LATE WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY IN PROXIMITY TO THE SLOSHING DRYLINE. WILL CONTINUE TO DEPICT SLIGHT CHANCE/CHANCE CATEGORY POPS THEN...FAVORING THE EASTERN ZONES...AS BEST DEPICTED IN THE MORE CONSISTENT ECMWF. WILL TREND THE GRIDDED OVER THE EAST FROM 20 PERCENT LATE WEDNESDAY...TO 40 PERCENT LATE THURSDAY/EARLY FRIDAY...TO 20 PERCENT LATE FRIDAY/EARLY SATURDAY. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT LATER FORECASTS MAY NEED TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL WEEKEND POPS GIVEN A POSSIBLE FROPA AND RENEWED TROUGHING ALOFT OVER THE SOUTHWEST. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FRIONA 36 66 39 77 47 / 30 0 0 10 10 TULIA 38 64 40 76 47 / 30 0 0 0 10 PLAINVIEW 38 66 41 77 49 / 30 0 0 0 10 LEVELLAND 38 69 43 78 50 / 20 0 0 0 10 LUBBOCK 40 68 43 78 51 / 20 0 0 0 10 DENVER CITY 40 72 44 81 51 / 20 0 0 0 10 BROWNFIELD 40 70 44 81 51 / 20 0 0 0 10 CHILDRESS 43 67 43 77 53 / 40 0 0 10 10 SPUR 43 70 44 78 53 / 20 0 0 0 10 ASPERMONT 47 71 46 79 55 / 20 0 0 0 10 && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 24/20
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1150 AM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 TXZ021>044-131700- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 1150 AM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE...ROLLING PLAINS AND SOUTH PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON. THE MOST NUMEROUS AND POTENTIALLY STRONGEST ACTIVITY WILL OCCUR OVER THE NORTHERN ROLLING PLAINS IN THE VICINITY OF THE PASSING UPPER LOW. ANY OF THE MORE ORGANIZED AND STRONGER STORMS THAT DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL. A WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY IS ALSO FORECAST TO STRETCH FROM THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE INTO THE ROLLING PLAINS AND THIS COMBINED WITH COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT AND AMPLE INSTABILITY NEAR THE GROUND COULD PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANDSPOUT TORNADOES ALONG THE BOUNDARY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG THE DRYLINE WILL INCREASE WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME OF THESE STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 238 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 TXZ024-025-122015- BRISCOE TX-HALL TX- 238 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM ACROSS BRISCOE COUNTY... AT 235 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE MONITORING A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ABOUT 18 MILES NORTH OF SILVERTON...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. SMALL HAIL IS EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER INDOORS. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 301 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 TXZ023-029-122045- SWISHER TX-HALE TX- 301 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM ACROSS HALE AND SWISHER COUNTIES... AT 259 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE MONITORING ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...ONE OVER HALFWAY AND THE OTHER 6 MILES NORTH OF TULIA. BOTH STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. SMALL HAIL IS EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER INDOORS. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 315 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 TXZ024>026-122045- BRISCOE TX-CHILDRESS TX-HALL TX- 315 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM ACROSS HALL...CHILDRESS AND BRISCOE COUNTIES... AT 314 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR BRICE...OR ABOUT 23 MILES WEST OF MEMPHIS...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR ESTELLINE. BRIEF...STRONG WIND GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE NEAR THUNDERSTORMS. MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 345 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 TXZ025-026-122115- CHILDRESS TX-HALL TX- 345 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM ACROSS HALL AND CHILDRESS COUNTIES... AT 344 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF CHILDRESS...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS OVER CENTRAL HALL COUNTY...10 MILES SOUTH OF LAKEVIEW. SMALL HAIL IS EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER INDOORS. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 346 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 TXZ029-030-035-036-122130- FLOYD TX-HALE TX-CROSBY TX-LUBBOCK TX- 346 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2009 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM ACROSS LUBBOCK...CROSBY...HALE AND FLOYD COUNTIES... AT 344 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTHWEST OF ABERNATHY TO NORTHEAST OF LUBBOCK...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER INDOORS. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:52 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Local law enforcement officials reported nickel size hail along U.S. Highway 287 just northwest of Childress.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, April 2009
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: 155582.