Following widespread high winds the previous day, strong west-northwest winds developed over much of the South Plains on the afternoon of the 28th. Fortunately, the coverage of sustained winds of 40 mph or greater, with some gusts measured as high as 66 mph, was concentrated in a swath across portions of Lamb, Hockley, Lubbock, and Lynn Counties.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
Following widespread high winds the previous day, strong west-northwest winds developed over much of the South Plains on the afternoon of the 28th. Fortunately, the coverage of sustained winds of 40 mph or greater, with some gusts measured as high as 66 mph, was concentrated in a swath across portions of Lamb, Hockley, Lubbock, and Lynn Counties. Minor property and utility pole damage was noted in and around Lubbock, including a partially collapsed barn roof. In northern Lynn County, a man was injured after his tractor trailer was blown over in strong crosswinds. Widespread blowing dust was again commonplace, but similar to the 27th much of the region saw visibilities at or above one mile.
As early as 1100 CST, very strong westerly winds began producing sporadic damage throughout Lubbock. This damage included a downed utility pole near North University and Clovis Highway, a failed power line one mile northeast of the NWS office, a partially collapsed roof of a barn near the Lubbock Airport, and several broken tree limbs along with some property fence damage in and around the city of Lubbock. The Lubbock ASOS measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph at 1644 CST and a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet at Reese Center measured sustained winds of 40 mph or greater from 1545 CST until 1900 CST. A semi-trailer was blown over while traveling on Highway 87 at Farm-to-Market Road 211. The driver was transported to Lynn County Hospital with minor injuries.
High wind gusts from the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet and Automated Surface Observation System are listed below:
66 mph at Amherst (Lamb County) and 58 mph at Lubbock International Airport (Lubbock County).
Sustained high winds from the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet are listed below:
42 mph at Anton (Hockley County) and 41 mph at Reese Center (Lubbock County).
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 28, 5:24 AM CST, 5 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 624 AM CDT MON APR 28 2014 .AVIATION... LIGHT WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS EARLY THIS MORNING...WILL RAMP UP LATE THIS AFTN TO AROUND 19 KTS AT KCDS...AND TO AROUND 29 KTS AT KLBB. WILL NEED TO SEE IF AN AWW IS REQUIRED AT KLBB. VISIBILITIES WILL BECOME RESTRICTED DUE TO VFR/MVFR CRITERIA DUE TO BLDU AT KLBB. A FEW HOURS AFTER SUNSET...A NOTABLE DECLINATION IN WIND SPEEDS WILL OCCUR /11-12 KTS/. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 242 AM CDT MON APR 28 2014/ SHORT TERM... THE POTENT UA LOW THAT PROVIDED THE SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS WITH RATHER WINDY AND DUSTY CONDITIONS YESTERDAY...HAS SHIFTED NORTH TO ACROSS THE NORTHERN CENTRAL PLAINS. THIS DISTURBANCE IS ANTICIPATED TO BE QUASI-STATIONARY THROUGHOUT THE DAYTIME BEFORE FINALLY GETTING SHOVED EWRD TOWARDS THE GREAT LAKES REGION TONIGHT...COURTESY OF UA RIDGING IMPINGING ON THE WRN CONUS. LOOKING AT THE SFC...A RELATIVELY WEAK COLD FRONT HAS MOVED IN ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE FAR SRN TX PANHANDLE AND NORTHERN ROLLING PLAINS...THUS CAUSING A WIND SHIFT TO THE NORTH...A SLIGHT UPTICK IN DEWPOINTS AND AN APPROXIMATELY 5 DEGREE DROP IN TEMPS. A FEW LIGHT SHOWERS DEVELOPED IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT...HENCE CAN NOT RULE OUT A FEW AREAS RECEIVING A FEW SPRINKLES....PARTICULARLY ACROSS THE FAR SRN TX PANHANDLE. ELSEWHERE...WRLY WINDS STILL ENSUED AND THESE DOWNSLOPE WINDS WILL POWER OVER THIS WEAK FRONT...AND THUS CAUSE WINDS TO BACK TO THE WEST AGAIN BEFORE SUNRISE. THE UA LOW MAY BE WELL NORTH OF THE REGION...BUT ITS TRAILING SWRN PERIPHERY CONTINUES TO STREAM ACROSS THE AREA. ENCOMPASSED WITHIN THIS STREAM ARE MODERATELY STRONG WINDS THAT WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS THIS AFTN. AFTN ABL MIXING TO AOA 600 MB WILL BE TAPPING INTO 40-55 KT WIND SPEEDS...WITH THE HIGHEST WINDS NOTED ACROSS THE SWRN ZONES AND PORTIONS OF THE WRN ZONES. MOS GUIDANCE SPEEDS OF 26-30 KTS ACROSS THE SAID AREAS APPEAR APPROPRIATE...AND WILL THEREFORE ELECT TO ISSUE A WIND ADVISORY FOR LUBBOCK COUNTY AND COUNTIES GENERALLY SOUTH AND WEST. TEMPS WILL CONTINUE TO RUN AROUND SEASONAL NORMS...HOWEVER BREEZY AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL BE ENOUGH FOR A HIGH FIRE DANGER ACROSS ALL BUT PERHAPS THE FAR NERN ZONES /WHERE LIGHTER WIND SPEEDS AND SLIGHTLY BELOW NORM TEMPS WILL RESIDE/. WILL GO AHEAD AND UPGRADE THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH TO A RED FLAG WARNING. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE REFER TO THE FIRE WEATHER DISCUSSION BELOW. THIS EVENING...THE COLD FRONT WILL MAKE ITS RETURN TO THE SERN TX PANHANDLE AND BE SOUTH OF THE CWA BY SUNRISE ON TUE. OVERNIGHT TEMPS AS A RESULT WILL BE ON THE COOL SIDE...WITH MIDDLE 30S ACROSS THE SWRN TX PANHANDLE TO THE UPPER 40S ACROSS THE LOW ROLLING PLAINS EXPECTED. LONG TERM... COLD FRONT TO BE SOUTH OF THE FCST AREA BY START OF TUESDAY. HOWEVER WITH THE STRONG UPPER LOW STILL ONLY MOVING SLOWLY NEWD THROUGH THE UPPER MIDWEST AND WITH A LONG WAVE TROUGH BEING CARVED OUT OVER THE CONUS FROM THE ROCKIES EWD TO THE EAST COAST...WILL SEE FAST MID LEVEL FLOW REMAIN OVER THE FCST AREA...ESPECIALLY THE NERN ZONES. MIXING WILL NOT BE MAXIMIZED BEHIND THE FRONT...BUT WITH A SFC HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING IN AS WELL WILL SEE WINDS BECOME WINDY FAIRLY EARLY IN THE DAY. MAY SEE ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS ACROSS THE NE CO-LOCATED WITH THE STRONGER MID LEVEL WINDS. THE MID TO UPPER LEVEL HEIGHT GRADIENT WILL BE SLOW TO DECREASE AS THE UPPER LOW WOBBLES ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST AND AS THE LONG WAVE TROUGH HOLDS IN PLACE SO BREEZY CONDITIONS MAY LINGER INTO THURSDAY. THIS PATTERN WILL ALSO HOLD IN PLACE UNSEASONABLY COOL AIR ACROSS THE SRN PLAINS...ON THE ORDER OF 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THERE IS EVEN A SMALL THREAT THAT THE NWRN ZONES COULD EXPERIENCE A LIGHT FREEZE WEDNESDAY MORNING. WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO WATCH A SHARP UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVE SSEWD THROUGH ERN NM THURSDAY WITH POTENTIAL FOR SOME VIRGA OR LIGHT SHOWERS RESULTING. HOWEVER...MEASURABLE PRECIP REMAINS UNLIKELY WITH THE DRYNESS OF THE SUBCLOUD LAYER AND THE SPEED AT WHICH THE TROUGH WILL BE MOVING. WILL KEEP POPS BELOW MENTION ATTM. PATTERN CHANGES ONCE AGAIN BY THE WEEKEND AS THE UPPER FLOW DEAMPLIFIES WITH THE BREAKING DOWN OF THE LONG WAVE TROUGH. A MORE ZONAL FLOW WILL BRING TEMPS BACK TO OR ABOVE NORMAL WITH NORTH WINDS BEING TRADED FOR SOUTH TO SW. FIRE WEATHER... MODERATELY STRONG WINDS ALOFT WILL COMMENCE TO MIX DOWN TO THE SFC THIS AFTN...CAUSING 20-FOOT WNW WIND SPEEDS TO INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 MPH. HIGHEST SPEEDS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE SWRN SOUTH PLAINS...AND WEAKEST SPEEDS WILL BE NOTED ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROLLING PLAINS. ALTHOUGH TEMPS WILL BE AROUND SEASONAL NORMALS...RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL STILL BE CAPABLE OF FALLING TO AROUND 10 PERCENT BY PEAK HEATING. BREEZY AND DRY CONDITIONS...ALONG WITH DRY TO CRITICALLY DRY FUELS MAY RESULT IN A HIGH FIRE DANGER. HAVE ELECTED TO UPGRADE THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH TO A RED FLAG WARNING ACROSS ALL BUT THE FAR SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...WHERE LIGHTER WIND SPEEDS AND SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TEMPS WILL RESIDE. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FRIONA 70 35 62 33 61 / 0 0 0 0 0 TULIA 72 40 65 34 62 / 0 0 0 0 0 PLAINVIEW 74 39 66 37 63 / 0 0 0 0 0 LEVELLAND 75 39 67 37 64 / 0 0 0 0 0 LUBBOCK 77 41 68 39 65 / 0 0 0 0 0 DENVER CITY 74 42 68 37 65 / 0 0 0 0 0 BROWNFIELD 76 41 69 39 65 / 0 0 0 0 0 CHILDRESS 78 46 71 43 67 / 0 0 0 0 0 SPUR 81 45 72 41 68 / 0 0 0 0 0 ASPERMONT 83 48 73 44 69 / 0 0 0 0 0 && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: TXZ021>024-027>031-033>044. WIND ADVISORY FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: TXZ027-028-033>035-039>041. && 29
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 338 AM CDT MON APR 28 2014 TXZ021>044-290845- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 338 AM CDT MON APR 28 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT FIRE WEATHER CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF THE SOUTH PLAINS AREA WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN PANHANDLE. NON PRECIPITATION WEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE INTO A RANGE FROM 25 TO 35 MPH ACROSS MUCH OF THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS BY EARLY AFTERNOON. A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR AREAS GENERALLY ALONG AND WEST OF AN OLTON TO LUBBOCK TO TAHOKA LINE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NORTH WINDS BEHIND A STRONG COLD FRONT MAY EXCEED 30 MPH ACROSS THE EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN PANHANDLE TUESDAY. A LIGHT FREEZE IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN PANHANDLE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY NIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, April 2014
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: 503726, 503727, 503724, 503728, 505216.