Early morning soundings on this day showed deep layer moisture from Midland, TX to El Paso, TX. This, combined with a mid level trough axis near the region, resulted in heavy rainfall over the mountainous terrain of West Texas.
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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 MAF wrote it up.
Early morning soundings on this day showed deep layer moisture from Midland, TX to El Paso, TX. This, combined with a mid level trough axis near the region, resulted in heavy rainfall over the mountainous terrain of West Texas.
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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 22, 1:28 PM CST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 228 PM CDT FRI MAY 22 2009 .DISCUSSION... ELP/MAF SOUNDINGS AND WATER VAPOR REVEAL DEEP LAYER MSTR IN PLACE ACRS W TX/SE NM. WATER VAPOR ALSO SHOWS PARENT MID/UPPER LOW IS IN SRN AZ. GFS DEPICTION OF 7H THETA-E FITS WELL WITH CONCEPTUAL MODEL AND WATER VAPOR. RADAR INDICATES MOST PRECIP IS WITHIN THIS THETA-E RIDGE AND JUST N OF MID LEVEL TROF AXIS. VISIBLE IMAGERY INDICATES THAT INSOLATION IS BEST ACRS MTNS AND ERN PB THIS AFTERNOON AND THESE AREAS ARE RECOVERING AND EXPECT SCT SHRA/TSRA. SEEMS THAT MOST OF TRANS PECOS WOULD BE TIED FAIRLY CLOSE TO DIURNAL HEATING. FARTHER N INTO PB/SE NM THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT PRECIP WILL DEVELOP OVERNIGHT WITHIN EWD-NEWD MOVING MID LEVEL THETA-E RIDGE AXIS IN PROXIMITY TO WHERE NAM INDICATES LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE WILL INCREASE. GOOD AGREEMENT THAT NW-SE ORIENTED BAND OF PRECIP WILL DEVELOP BY 12Z. THIS SIGNAL HAS BEEN APPARENT THE LAST FEW DAYS. MID LEVEL TROF AXIS WILL PROBABLY BE N OF OR IN NRN CWFA SAT PM SO BETTER LIFT WOULD TEND TO BE N...BUT MID LEVEL FLOW WILL STILL BE WEAK AND PLAINS MAY BE SLOW TO RECOVER...DEPENDING HOW MUCH MORNING PRECIP THERE IS. MID LEVEL THETA-E RIDGE MAY STILL BE IN PLACE AND WITH MORE INSOLATION IN THE SW SLGHT CHC/CHC POPS STILL WARRANTED. WARMER WX SUN IN THE W AND SHOULD BE DRIER FOR THE MOST...SIMILAR TO GFS. NAM STILL HOLDS PRECIP ACRS PB SUN WHERE THERE MAY BE CHANCE FOR SHRTWV ENERGY IN SLIGHTLY DIFLUENT SHORT FETCH NW MID LEVEL FLOW. TEMPS ACRS PB SHOULD STILL BE BLO NORMAL SUN ALTHOUGH WARMER. DRIER/WARMER MID LEVEL AIR SHOULD HELP BRING AND END TO PRECIP CHANCES MONDAY WITH TEMPS BACK INTO THE 90S. 5H LOW MOVES INTO DESERT SW TUE WITH SW MID LEVEL FLOW DEVELOPING. MEANWHILE COLD FRONT WILL BE N INVOF PANHANDLE...SO PROBABLY STILL DRY...AND CERTAINLY WARM. 85H TEMPS 26C WILL KEEP HIGH TEMPS IN THE 90S ACRS PB. GFS HAS SLOWED ITS MOVEMENT OF THE FRONT FROM YESTERDAY AND HAS DRIER FCST WED...BUT STILL DEVELOPS PRECIP THUR AS DOES ECMWF. WEAK NW MID LEVEL FLOW IN ADVANCE OF SHRTWV RIDGING FRI. ATTP WILL MAKE LITTLE CHANGE TO WED/THUR IN LIEU OF ANYTHING BETTER. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BIG SPRING TX 63 77 61 82 / 40 40 30 20 CARLSBAD NM 55 77 58 86 / 50 10 10 10 DRYDEN TX 62 86 64 89 / 30 20 10 0 FORT STOCKTON TX 58 80 61 88 / 40 20 10 0 GUADALUPE PASS TX 52 77 55 84 / 60 10 10 10 HOBBS NM 59 75 57 85 / 40 30 10 30 MARFA TX 49 75 48 82 / 40 20 10 0 MIDLAND INTL AIRPORT TX 61 79 62 85 / 40 40 10 20 ODESSA TX 60 79 61 84 / 30 30 10 20 WINK TX 60 82 62 91 / 40 20 10 10 && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...NONE. TX...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 138 PM CDT FRI MAY 22 2009 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-231845- GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY-EDDY COUNTY PLAINS- NORTHERN LEA COUNTY-CENTRAL LEA COUNTY-SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY-GAINES- DAWSON-BORDEN-SCURRY-ANDREWS-MARTIN-HOWARD-MITCHELL- VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR-REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS- LOVING-WINKLER-ECTOR-MIDLAND-GLASSCOCK-WARD-CRANE-UPTON-REAGAN- DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA-PECOS-PRESIDIO VALLEY-MARFA PLATEAU- BIG BEND AREA-TERRELL-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS- 138 PM CDT FRI MAY 22 2009 /1238 PM MDT FRI MAY 22 2009/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND WEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG AND WEST OF THE PECOS RIVER WITH MORE ISOLATED SHOWERS AND STORMS TO THE EAST. THE RISK OF SEVERE STORMS WILL BE LOW...HOWEVER SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS MAY ALLOW FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS THAT COULD LEAD TO ISOLATED FLOODING CONCERNS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY SPREAD EAST INTO THE PERMIAN BASIN SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THE RISK OF SEVERE STORMS WILL STILL BE LOW...HOWEVER SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS MAY ALLOW FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND ISOLATED FLOODING CONCERNS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES... AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN MIDLAND CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT /LOWER CASE/ HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/MIDLAND
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 222 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:43 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several road closures were reported by the fire department in Fort Davis, TX.
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, May 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: 169907.