A complex of storms which originated over the Texas Panhandle swept southward over the northern South Plains during the evening hours of the 28th and resulted in significant wind and hail damages. The most significant damage occurred in Hale County, where at least two structures sustained roof damage.
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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 complex of storms which originated over the Texas Panhandle swept southward over the northern South Plains during the evening hours of the 28th and resulted in significant wind and hail damages. The most significant damage occurred in Hale County, where at least two structures sustained roof damage. Damages to an apartment complex in Plainview (Hale County) left four families homeless. A swath of wind-blown hail destroyed an estimated 20,000 acres of cotton from south of Plainview to near Cotton Center and Hale Center (Hale County). Total estimates of storm damages across the region exceeded $3.75 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 Jul 28, 5:33 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 633 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2009 .AVIATION... NW FLOW ALOFT TO BRING THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE FCST AREA FROM NRN TX PANHANDLE AND NERN NM. GOOD PROBABILITY THAT BOTH TAF SITES WILL BE AFFECTED BEFORE 06Z. SOME POSSIBILITY OF REDEVELOPMENT LATER TONIGHT WITH A MID LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND HAVE KEPT A PROB30 MENTION TO COVER THAT. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 615 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2009/ UPDATE... QUICK UPDATE TO THE PRODUCTS TO REFLECT THE LATEST SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE AREA UNTIL 1 AM. NO OTHER CHANGES MADE ATTM. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 329 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2009/ SHORT TERM... BIG QUESTION FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT REMAINS HOW CONVECTION WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION AND AFFECT THE FCST AREA TONIGHT. MODELS ARE ALL IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH SOME FORM OF STORMS DEVELOPING BUT ARE DIFFERENT IN WHETHER THIS ACTIVITY WILL BE SCATTERED OR A MORE ORGANIZED MCS. CURRENT VIS SAT AND REGIONAL RADAR COMPOSITE SHOW STORMS HAVE FIRED AND MOVED OFF THE SANGRES INTO NE NM WITH ADDITIONAL STORMS TRYING TO DEVELOP ALONG A STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY NEAR THE CO/KS AND OK STATE LINES. ANVIL BLOWOFF IS MOVING MORE TOWARDS THE EAST SOUTHEAST WHILE UPDRAFT REGIONS ARE DRIFTING MORE DUE SOUTHEAST OR EVEN SOUTHWARD. FOLLOWING THE NAM/GFS SOLN...ACTIVITY SHOULD PUSH SOUTHEASTWARD TOWARDS THE AREA LATE THIS EVENING. 00Z NSSL WRF HAD ACTIVITY MOVING MORE DUE SOUTH. BARRING ANY ISOLATED DEVELOPMENT OVER THE AREA...HINTED AT IN THE LAST SEVERAL RUC RUNS...STORMS SHOULD DEVELOP INTO A MCS THAT WILL EVENTUALLY ROLL ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. SEVERE WEATHER WILL LIKELY BE LIMITED TO A WIND THREAT SHOULD THE MCS DEVELOP...BUT ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE MCS COULD PRODUCE SOME SMALL HAIL AND MICROBURST ACTIVITY. CONTINUED A GENERAL SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IN THE GRIDS AND HWO FOR TONIGHT AND ALSO LEFT POPS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME FROM PREVIOUS SHIFT. DID ADJUST POPS FOR WEDNESDAY MORNING THINKING THAT A FEW SHOWERS COULD LINGER OVER THE AREA FROM THE STRATIFORM RAIN REGION. TEMPS WILL ALSO BE AFFECTED BY THE POSSIBILITY OF PRECIP AND CLOUDS OVERNIGHT INTO TOMORROW MORNING BUT KEPT FCST PRETTY CLOSE TO WHAT WE ARE SEEING SO FAR TODAY. JORDAN LONG TERM... TOMORROW NIGHT ANOTHER H5 SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE THRU THE AREA...BOTH THE VORT MAX AND THE BULK OF THE PRECIP IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN TO THE NORTH OF THE CWA. BY 06Z THURSDAY A COLD FRONT IS EDGEING ITS WAY INTO THE CWA. THE CURRENT MODELS HAVE FROPA IN LUBBOCK NEAR 9Z AND OUT OF THE CWA BY 12Z ALLOWING FOR SOME DAYTIME WARMING AND DRYING. THE TSTORM AND SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL BE MAINLY POST FRONTAL ON THURSDAY...WITH MCS DEVELOPMENT ONCE AGAIN THURSDAY NIGHT IN NE NEW MEXICO. THURSDAY NIGHTS MCS WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH A H5 SHORTWAVE/VORT MAX WHICH IS PROGGED TO PUSH EWRD ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA...THE NAMS QPF SEEMS TO BE RUNNING A LITTLE HOT BUT THE LOCATION SEEMS SOUND. BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPSLOPE FLOW RETURNS SETTING UP YET ANOTHER EVENING OF CONVECTION THAT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE SOUTHEAST OUT OF NE NEW MEXICO...MOST OF THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD REMAIN ON THE NE HALF OF THE AREA. BY THE WEEKEND THE RIDGE IS PROGGED TO MOVE EWRD...ALTHOUGH THERE STILL NOT GOOD MODEL AGREEMENT ON WHERE THE RIDGE WILL BE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK. THIS LEADS TO THE PROBLEM OF PRECIP FOR THE EARLY WEEK...SINCE THE EURO STILL HAS SOME NW FLOW ALOFT. HAVE LEFT IN SILENT POPS FOR THE END OF THE PERIOD FOR THIS REASON. ALSO THERE SHOULD BE ANOTHER FRONT MOVE THRU EARLY NEXT WEEK...BUT MODEL VARY GREATLY ON TIMING...MAINLY ONCE AGAIN DUE TO THE RIDGE PLACEMENT. MEADOWS && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FRIONA 65 89 61 79 59 / 70 20 50 50 30 TULIA 64 89 65 79 60 / 70 20 50 50 30 PLAINVIEW 64 90 65 81 61 / 70 20 40 50 30 LEVELLAND 67 92 66 85 63 / 70 30 40 40 30 LUBBOCK 67 91 66 84 63 / 70 30 40 40 30 DENVER CITY 69 93 69 86 63 / 70 30 30 40 30 BROWNFIELD 68 92 68 85 66 / 70 30 40 40 30 CHILDRESS 69 92 67 83 68 / 60 30 50 50 30 SPUR 70 93 69 84 66 / 70 30 40 40 30 ASPERMONT 72 93 73 86 67 / 70 40 40 50 30 && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 07
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1230 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2009 TXZ021>044-291030- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 1230 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON WITH A FEW OF THESE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL AND WINDS THAT BRIEFLY APPROACH SEVERE LEVELS. HOWEVER...SEVERAL CLUSTERS OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO AND NORTHWESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE. THESE STORMS WILL PUSH INTO THE AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AND COULD ORGANIZE INTO A LARGER COMPLEX CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SEVERE WEATHER. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT ALTHOUGH A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY PRODUCE MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL EARLY IN THE EVENING. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO ALLOW WEAK DISTURBANCES TO PUSH ACROSS AN UNUSUALLY MOIST AIRMASS ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH NIGHTTIME HOURS AND A FEW OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED LARGE HAIL REPORTS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE...AND AREAS THAT RECEIVE REPEATED HEAVY RAINFALL COULD SEE EXCESSIVE STORM RUNOFF. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS THE AREA. JORDAN
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:37 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple reports of severe thunderstorm gusts up to 60 mph were received from the public and from a National Weather Service cooperative observer near Vigo Park during the 19:00 CST hour. No significant damage was reported.
A thunderstorm wind gust of 65 mph was initially measured by the KVII-TV Schoolnet in Silverton at 20:09 CST. Additional severe gusts up to 63 mph were recorded by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet southeast of Silverton between 20:25 and 20:35 CST. No significant damage was reported.
The KVII-TV Schoolnet initially measured a 74 mph thunderstorm wind gust in Plainview at 20:38 CST. By 20:40 CST the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet recorded gusts up to 62 mph south of Plainview. Local authorities and newspaper articles reported significant damage in the area. The winds blew the roof off of an apartment complex where four families were left homeless. Roof damage also occurred at a local bowling ally, and a traffic light was reportedly downed by the winds. A number of large trees, tree limbs, and signs were additionally blown down. A combination of wind and hail continued to damage cotton crops along a swath that extended southward to near Cotton Center and Hale Center. In all, an estimated 20,000 acres of cotton were lost. No injuries were reported.
A swath of large hail combined with destructive thunderstorm winds to result in significant cotton crop losses. Hail up to the size of pennies fell along a swath west of Interstate 27 from southwest of Plainview to near Cotton Center and Hale Center. Local agricultural officials reported significant cotton crop losses following the storm, with combined damages from hail and wind accounting for an estimated 20,000 acres lost.
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, July 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: 187047, 187048, 187054, 187055.