A sharpening dryline developed this afternoon as deep layer wind fields increased ahead of an upper level disturbance moving toward Baja California. Isolated thunderstorms developed into the late afternoon and evening hours, with one originating near Brownfield and moving northeast across southern Lubbock County into western Crosby County.
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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 sharpening dryline developed this afternoon as deep layer wind fields increased ahead of an upper level disturbance moving toward Baja California. Isolated thunderstorms developed into the late afternoon and evening hours, with one originating near Brownfield and moving northeast across southern Lubbock County into western Crosby County. As low level wind fields increased into the early evening hours, this storm proceeded to quickly intensify and produce up to golf ball sized hail.
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 11, 6:10 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 710 PM CDT SAT APR 11 2015 .UPDATE... HAVE INCREASED POPS IMMEDIATELY EAST AND NORTHEAST OF LUBBOCK BASED ON CURRENT RADAR TRENDS. ISOLATED STORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE THIS EVENING EAST OF THE DRYLINE FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. CONVECTION HAS HAD A HARD TIME BECOMING ESTABLISHED THOUGH ENVIRONMENT DUE TO CAPPING. HOWEVER...INSTABILITY IS QUITE GOOD WITH VALUES UP AROUND 2KJ/KG AND PLENTIFUL SHEAR. HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS LOOKS TO BE THE PRIMARY THREAT OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. && .AVIATION... TSTM ACTIVITY HAS DEVELOPED ALONG AND EAST OF KPVW AND KLBB AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST AWAY FROM BOTH TERMINALS. KCDS APPEARS TO HAVE A LOW RISK OF TSTM ACTIVITY THOUGH LIKELIHOOD REMAINS TOO LOW FOR MENTION IN TAF ATTM. STRATUS IS POSSIBLE AT ALL TERMINALS AND WILL MONITOR TRENDS AS CONVECTION MODIFIES THE AIRMASS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 333 PM CDT SAT APR 11 2015/ SHORT TERM... LOW LEVEL THETA-E HAS SLOWLY BEEN ON THE INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON FORMING A NORTH-SOUTH ORIENTED RIDGE ALONG THE DRYLINE PER THE RAP ANALYSIS. WE ARE ALSO SEEING SOME OF THE DRYLINE BULGING ON THE SOUTH PLAINS AS INDICATED BY MORNING MODEL RUNS. THE HRRR/RAP HAVE BECOME MORE INDICATIVE OF CONVECTIVE INITIATION LATE THIS AFTERNOON MORE IN LINE WITH THE TTU WRF SOLUTION. WITH THE DRYLINE BULGE COMING OUT...THE BEST CONVECTION WILL LIKELY BE AREAS FROM LBB NORTH ALONG THE I-27 CORRIDOR. A LOW LEVEL JET DEVELOPING THIS EVENING MAY BE ABLE TO KEEP CONVECTION GOING FOR A LITTLE WHILE BUT WEAK SHORT WAVE RIDGING AHEAD OF AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL ACT TO DAMPEN THE EFFECT. THE DRYLINE WILL RETREAT IN USUAL FASHION TONIGHT WHICH WILL BRING MORE WIDESPREAD LOW STRATUS BY SUNDAY MORNING. THE FORECAST FOR TOMORROW IS A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED BUT MOST PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL LIKELY HOLD OFF UNTIL THE EVENING. UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENT FLOW WILL BEGIN TO CREEP INTO THE REGION DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE DRYLINE WILL MIX FARTHER EAST BUT WILL BE MUCH MORE DIFFUSE BRINGING MORE OF A BROAD REGION OF HIGHER DEW POINTS TO THE REGION. STRONG SURFACE HEATING WILL AGAIN TAKE PLACE ONCE LOW STRATUS CLEARS OUT WHICH WILL LEAD TO STRONG SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY. HOWEVER...SEVERE CHANCES WILL BE MUCH LOWERED WITH MUCH LESS SHEAR IN CLOSER PROXIMITY TO THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. LONG TERM... AS THE AFOREMENTIONED UPPER LEVEL TROUGH APPROACHES WEST TEXAS...MODELS CONTINUE TO DEEPEN THE SYSTEM INTO A CLOSED LOW BY MONDAY MORNING. STRONG LIFT ON THE NORTHEASTERN SIDE OF THE LOW WILL COMBINE WITH LOW LEVEL LIFT PROVIDED BY A COLD FRONT TO RESULT IN WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE AREA BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. MODELS ARE CONTINUING TO STRUGGLE WITH WHERE THE BEST CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION WILL BE AS WELL AS THE TIMING FOR THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION. REGARDLESS...MONDAY LOOKS TO BE A FAIRLY WET DAY ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. CHANCES FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE ALMOST NIL AS ATMOSPHERE WILL HAVE BEEN WORKED OVER AND EXTENSIVE CLOUD DECK WILL PREVENT ANY SURFACE-BASED INSTABILITY FROM BECOMING ESTABLISHED. THAT BEING SAID...THERE MAY BE A FEW REPORTS OF HAIL AS THE CORE OF THE LOW MOVES OVER THE REGION THANKS TO MID-LEVEL COOLING AND A SLIGHT INCREASE IN LAPSE RATES IN THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THE NAM IS NOW NOT PUSHING THE FRONT TOO FAR SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA WHILE THE GFS AND ECMWF BOTH CARRY THE FRONT INTO CENTRAL OR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. THIS WILL IMPACT THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE RETURN THAT WILL TAKE PLACE FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AHEAD OF THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH. MODELS HAD A DEEP TROUGH ON WEDNESDAY BUT ARE NOW TRENDING TOWARDS A CLOSED LOW THAT DEEPENS WHILE CONTINUING TO SPIN EAST OF THE FOUR CORNERS REGION ALONG THE CO/NM BORDER. THIS WOULD RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SURFACE LOW SOMEWHERE NORTHWEST OF THE AREA AND KEEP THE DRYLINE IN PLACE NEARBY. DEPENDING ON HOW THINGS UNFOLD FOR THE MIDDLE TO LATTER PART OF NEXT WEEK...WE MAY SEE A SHOT AT WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION OR THE DRYLINE PUNCHING EAST INTO OKLAHOMA FOR THURSDAY. FINALLY BY NEXT WEEKEND WE SEE ANOTHER COLD FRONT PUSH ACROSS THE REGION AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW FINALLY MOVES EAST OF THE AREA. AGAIN...TIMING REMAINS QUESTIONABLE SO LEFT THE LAST THREE DAYS OF THE FORECAST UNTOUCHED TO SEE HOW THESE MAJOR DIFFERENCES EVOLVE WITH TIME. JORDAN && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FRIONA 48 78 49 60 / 10 20 60 70 TULIA 54 79 53 63 / 30 30 60 70 PLAINVIEW 55 79 54 63 / 30 30 60 70 LEVELLAND 55 79 51 64 / 10 30 60 70 LUBBOCK 57 79 54 64 / 30 30 60 70 DENVER CITY 55 77 51 66 / 10 30 60 60 BROWNFIELD 56 79 53 66 / 20 40 60 60 CHILDRESS 60 82 59 67 / 30 30 60 70 SPUR 58 80 56 67 / 30 30 60 60 ASPERMONT 62 83 60 73 / 20 40 60 60 && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 26/99/26
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1119 AM CDT SAT APR 11 2015 TXZ021>044-121630- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 1119 AM CDT SAT APR 11 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS...WIND GUSTS OF 60 MPH...AND AN ISOLATED TORNADO WILL ALL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SUNDAY AFTERNOON AHEAD OF AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM. SOME STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:11 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A storm chaser and public citizen reported hail of ping pong ball size to golf ball size as a supercell thunderstorm moved from south of Lorenzo to east of Caprock. A car's windshield and a window of a nearby building were damaged.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, April 2015
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: 559466.