A line of thunderstorms raced south-southeast out of the western Panhandle late this afternoon ahead of a compact shortwave trough embedded in northerly upper flow. Two localized instances of severe winds accompanied this line of storms late in the afternoon; however, the majority of peak wind gusts were between 30 and 45 mph as these storms continued moving south all the way into the Permian…
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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 line of thunderstorms raced south-southeast out of the western Panhandle late this afternoon ahead of a compact shortwave trough embedded in northerly upper flow. Two localized instances of severe winds accompanied this line of storms late in the afternoon; however, the majority of peak wind gusts were between 30 and 45 mph as these storms continued moving south all the way into the Permian Basin after sunset. These strong winds lofted large amounts of dirt particularly from Littlefield south to Levelland and Brownfield where a distinct haboob was visible by staff at the NWS office in Lubbock. Rainfall proved generally sparse with these fast-moving storms. By late in the night, a second round of storms affected portions of the southeast Texas Panhandle around Memphis with strong winds and light but welcome rainfall.
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 Sep 30, 2:34 PM CST, 2 hours 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 334 PM CDT SUN SEP 30 2012 .SHORT TERM... HE UA LOW THAT PROVIDED THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WITH MUCH NEEDED WETTING RAINS THE PAST FEW DAYS...CONTINUED TO TREK EAST TOWARDS THE LOWER/CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI VALLEY...AS AMPLIFIED UA RIDGING ACROSS THE WESTERN CONUS GIVES WAY TO NNW FLOW ALOFT ACROSS THE REGION. GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES HAVE ALLOWED TEMPS TO WARM INTO THE MID TO UPPER 70S THIS AFTERNOON...WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN A FEW DEGREES WARMER IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE RATHER MOISTENED SOILS. ATTENTION HAS QUICKLY TURNED TO A SHORTWAVE TROUGH THAT IS DIVING SSE WITHIN THE FLOW ALOFT...TO NEAR SERN COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON. THIS SHORTWAVE HAS GENERATED ISOLATED STORMS ACROSS SERN COLORADO...NERN NEW MEXICO AND THE NWRN TEXAS PANHANDLE...WHICH IS OF INTEREST GIVEN THE 1.0-1.5 KJ/KG OF SFC-BASED CAPE ALREADY IN PLACE ACROSS THE FA...THANKS TO INCREASED INSOLATION/DAYTIME DESTABILIZATION. IT IS THEREFORE NOT SURPRISING TO SEE MODEL RUNS SHOWING ISOLATED TO SCATTERED PRECIP OCCURRING LATER THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING AS THE DISTURBANCE CONTINUES ITS SSEWD TRANSLATION. THE AFOREMENTIONED SFC-BASED CAPE COMBINED WITH PROGGED SOUNDINGS EXHIBITING STEEPENED LAPSE RATES WITH LITTLE TO NO CIN AND 20-30 KTS OF 0-6 KM OF BULK SHEAR SUGGESTS STORMS CAPABLE OF APPROACHING STRONG TO POSSIBLY SEVERE LEVELS WITH SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS THE PRIMARY THREATS. ALTHOUGH PWATS WILL BE NEARING 1.00 INCH...20+ KTS OF STEERING FLOW WILL PROMOTE A QUICK STORM MOTION. TONIGHT...BEST INSTABILITY WILL SHIFT SOUTH OF THE CWA IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE DISTURBANCE...BUT LINGERING ISOLATED SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW THE POTENTIAL FOR PATCHY FOG ESPECIALLY OFF THE CAPROCK AOA 01/12Z...WHERE WIND SPEEDS WILL BE LIGHTEST. THIS APPEARS TO BE RATHER BRIEF AS A SFC RIDGE NORTH OF THE CWA NEARS THE REGION...THUS CAUSING A SLIGHT INCREASE IN WIND SPEEDS BY 01/15Z. AS SUCH...WILL OPT TO NOT ADD A FOG MENTION ATTM. OVER NIGHT LOWS WILL BE AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS WITH LOWER 50S ACROSS THE SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE TO UPPER 50S ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ROLLING PLAINS EXPECTED. TOMORROW...WE MAY GET ANOTHER SHOT AT PRECIPITATION AS FORECAST RUNS HINT AT CONVECTION DEVELOPING GENERALLY OFF THE CAPROCK /NEAREST TO THE BEST MOISTURE AXIS/...WHICH COINCIDES WITH THE LEFT ENTRANCE REGION OF A 70+ KT 250 MB ULJ WITHIN THE NNW FLOW ALOFT. AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED...A SFC RIDGE NORTH OF THE REGION WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT SOUTH CAUSING A TIGHTENED PRESSURE GRADIENT WITH NORTHERLY SFC WIND SPEEDS AOA 20 MPH BY LATE AFTERNOON. AFTERNOON SFC-BASED INSTABILITY WILL BE A BIT LESS THAN TODAY /700-1000 J/KG/...IN ADDITION TO SLIGHTLY DRIER ATMOSPHERIC PROFILES /PWATS AOA 0.75 INCHES/. HOWEVER A BRIEF STRONG WIND GUST IS PLAUSIBLE GIVEN STEEPENED LAPSE RATES. TEMPS WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY WARM WITH MID TO UPPER 70S TO LOWER 80S EXPECTED. && .LONG TERM... DRYING NORTHERLY FLOW LATE TUESDAY WILL TRANSITION QUICKLY TO WEST- NORTHWEST ALOFT WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FOLLOWING A SHORT-WAVE RIDGE EARLY WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL PROMOTE RAPID WARMING...THOUGH SOLUTIONS HAVE TRENDED SLIGHTLY FURTHER WEST WITH SURFACE LOW PRESSURE TROUGH LATE IN THE DAY WHICH MAY HOLD COOLER TEMPERATURES LONGER OVER THE ROLLING PLAINS. HAVE TRENDED READINGS SLIGHTLY LOWER EASTERN ZONES ON WEDNESDAY. A FAST MOVING UPPER TROUGH SWINGING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS WILL DRAG A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE AREA EARLY THURSDAY...THOUGH STILL A LARGE SPREAD OVER STRENGTH OF RIDGING AND PRESSURE RISES ON THURSDAY. WE WILL DEPICT A FAIRLY LARGE TEMPERATURE SPREAD NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ALONG WITH MODERATELY STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS EARLY IN THE DAY...TAPERING OFF LATER IN THE DAY. I.E. COMPROMISE BETWEEN DIFFERENT CAMPS. FRIDAY SEEMS TO FAVOR EARLY IN THE DAY SURFACE RIDGE THOUGH QUICK PRESSURE FALLS IN THE AFTERNOON ACROSS THE PANHANDLE IN ADVANCE OF NEXT UPPER SYSTEM DIGGING SOUTHEAST INTO CENTRAL U.S....THOUGH NOT ALL SOLUTIONS HAVE COME AROUND TO SURFACE TROUGH SCENARIO. OUR FRIDAY FORECAST WILL FAVOR SOME WARMING BY ABOUT 2:1 ODDS. THEN...A STRONGER DUMP OF COLD AIR SEEMS LIKELY FOR SATURDAY ALTHOUGH SPREADS BETWEEN WAVE TIMING AND AMPLITUDE GROW SUBSTANTIALLY SATURDAY AND BEYOND. DRY SHOULD HOLD AFTER LATE TUESDAY...WHILE LATEST SOLUTIONS DO NOT BRING SIGNIFICANT LIFT OR MOISTURE IN TO AREA AT LEAST THROUGH SATURDAY. WE WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY AS WELL. RMCQUEEN && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FRIONA 51 74 47 79 50 / 30 20 0 0 0 TULIA 53 76 47 77 51 / 30 20 10 0 0 PLAINVIEW 54 76 47 78 52 / 30 20 10 0 0 LEVELLAND 54 78 51 80 54 / 30 20 10 0 0 LUBBOCK 56 78 50 78 55 / 30 20 10 0 0 DENVER CITY 55 81 51 80 56 / 30 20 10 0 0 BROWNFIELD 55 80 51 80 55 / 30 20 10 0 0 CHILDRESS 58 80 50 77 56 / 30 20 20 0 0 SPUR 57 80 53 78 55 / 20 20 20 0 0 ASPERMONT 59 81 53 78 57 / 20 20 20 0 0 && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 29/05
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1029 AM CDT SUN SEP 30 2012 TXZ021>044-011530- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 1029 AM CDT SUN SEP 30 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT CONVECTIVE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THE STORMS COULD APPROACH STRONG LEVELS AND PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND STRONG WIND GUSTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The Cannon AFB radar (KFDX), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:41 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 58 mph wind gust was measured by a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet station near Friona.
A 60 mph wind gust was measured by a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet station south of Anton.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, September 2012
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: 408373, 408374.