Shortly after midnight, scattered thunderstorms pushed south out of the western half of the Texas Panhandle. Although the airmass ahead of these storms was seasonably cool and dry with dewpoints only in the 40s, a strong low-level jet fed moisture and instability northward and allowed some of these storms to intensify and expand in coverage over the South Plains.
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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.
Shortly after midnight, scattered thunderstorms pushed south out of the western half of the Texas Panhandle. Although the airmass ahead of these storms was seasonably cool and dry with dewpoints only in the 40s, a strong low-level jet fed moisture and instability northward and allowed some of these storms to intensify and expand in coverage over the South Plains. A few marginally severe wind gusts were measured by mesonet stations in Parmer and Hockley Counties. The storms did bring some beneficial rains of 1/4 to 1/2 inch to parts of the South Plains.
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 3, 10:46 PM CST, 2 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1146 PM CDT WED JUL 3 2013 .AVIATION... OUTSIDE OF VERY BRIEF VIS REDUCTIONS FROM HEAVIER PRECIP IN ANY TSRA...VFR CONDITIONS TO PREVAIL. SCATTERED TSRA ALREADY NOTED IN THE WESTERN AND SOUTHEAST TX PANHANDLE WILL LIKELY IMPACT BOTH LBB AND CDS AT SOME POINT THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING UNDERNEATH AN UNSETTLED NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT. CURRENT TSRA EAST OF CDS WILL CONTINUE EASING EASTWARD...HOWEVER MORE ROBUST DEVELOPMENT FARTHER NORTHWEST SHOULD EXPAND IN COVERAGE IN THE COMING HOURS. PRESENT INDICATIONS FAVOR TSRA ON SITE AT LBB AND CDS ANYTIME FROM 09Z-14Z...PERHAPS LINGERING EVEN LONGER AS STORMS WILL TEND TO MOVE REPEATEDLY OVER THE SAME AREA. CONFIDENCE IS HIGH TSRA WILL DIMINISH BY LATE MORNING AT WHICH POINT BREEZY SOUTHERLY WINDS OF 15-20 KNOTS WITH HIGHER GUSTS WILL EMERGE UNDER SCATTERED MID/HIGH CLOUDS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FRIONA 61 88 61 94 65 / 40 20 20 10 20 TULIA 59 89 61 94 66 / 50 30 10 10 20 PLAINVIEW 62 89 63 94 66 / 50 30 10 10 20 LEVELLAND 61 90 63 96 67 / 30 20 10 10 20 LUBBOCK 65 90 64 96 67 / 40 30 10 10 20 DENVER CITY 61 90 65 96 68 / 20 20 20 10 20 BROWNFIELD 61 90 64 95 67 / 30 20 10 10 20 CHILDRESS 64 93 66 96 69 / 40 30 10 10 10 SPUR 62 91 66 94 69 / 40 40 10 10 20 ASPERMONT 60 95 67 96 71 / 20 30 10 10 10 && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 93
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 408 AM CDT WED JUL 3 2013 TXZ021>044-040915- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 408 AM CDT WED JUL 3 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.
The Cannon AFB radar (KFDX), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:39 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Measured by a Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet station near Friona.
Measured by a Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet station near Anton.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, July 2013
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: 450759, 450760.