Upper level low pressure area centered near Baja moved toward West Texas and then slowly across the Permian Basin and the Texas Panhandle, which provided enough lift over the area to produce showers and thunderstorms.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 MAF wrote it up.
Upper level low pressure area centered near Baja moved toward West Texas and then slowly across the Permian Basin and the Texas Panhandle, which provided enough lift over the area to produce showers and thunderstorms.
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 Apr 12, 1:08 PM CST, 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 208 PM CDT Sun Apr 12 2015 .DISCUSSION... Water vapor clearly depicts an upper low sw of KELP with a model initialized 50-60kt 4h jet. Broad mid level lift is evident too as seen in cyclonically curved cloud shield on IR, along with cooling cloud tops. Summary model depiction of this is probably best seen thru NAM/GFS OMEGA fields, which translate lift across the CWFA between thru 03z. Lift will be within the 3rd standard deviation positive PW anomalies and SHRA/TSRA should proliferate in this environment. Between 18Z-19Z there were approx 300 lightning strikes within 10-100 miles s of Rio Grande. The models attempt to capture precip shield that moves SW-NE today, with a low level wind shift from S to W. Heavy rain is a concern too with such high ambient mstr content, however cells will be moving about 30 mph, so flooding concerns will remain mostly local but certainly exist! A few stong/severe storms cannot be ruled out either in this modest CAPE/low shear environment, downburst winds/hail. Convection will probably be strongest on leading edge of the reference rain cooled air and by late in the day/early this evening there could be a few areas of further enhancement. One could be across the central PB where the airmass may have greatest SB destabilization and a second across the Lower Trans Pecos where richest surface mstr will be. PoPs will mostly wane into the night. There will be an exception though, SE NM. Around 12Z wrap around precip will develop in the area from S Plains into E-SE NM. Cold front is now shown to arrive much earlier Monday and this will tend to renew precip development for areas n of I-20, where it will be noticeably cooler. Precip decreases Mon night/early Tue AM, but there will be lingering showers, followed by cool, but drier conditions Tue PM. A mid level trof will deepen near the 4-Corners Wed with high based SHRA/TSRA possible W-NW late Wed PM into the night. Assocd frontal timing is uncertain due to uncertainty wrt where upper low will be. GFS brings the upper low across to the n with drier/cooler low level air Fri-Sunday. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ANDREWS TX 53 64 46 68 / 40 60 60 10 BIG SPRING TX 58 67 50 70 / 50 50 60 20 CARLSBAD NM 57 63 46 71 / 50 70 30 10 DRYDEN TX 57 81 57 78 / 40 10 0 10 FORT STOCKTON TX 53 72 49 72 / 10 10 30 10 GUADALUPE PASS TX 45 55 41 66 / 50 50 10 10 HOBBS NM 50 61 45 67 / 50 70 50 10 MARFA TX 47 63 40 69 / 10 20 20 10 MIDLAND INTL AIRPORT TX 55 68 48 69 / 40 50 50 10 ODESSA TX 53 67 48 70 / 30 50 50 10 WINK TX 52 71 49 72 / 20 40 50 10 && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...NONE. TX...NONE. && Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at: http://facebook.com/NWSMidland http://twitter.com/NWSMidland Check us out on the internet at: http://weather.gov/midland
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 129 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2015 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-131830- 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- 129 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2015 /1229 PM MDT SUN APR 12 2015/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND WEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT...MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND THE WESTERN LOW ROLLING PLAINS. ANY STORMS THAT DO DEVELOP WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY FREQUENT LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. A STORM OR TWO MAY BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING WITH BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MONDAY...MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND THE WESTERN LOW ROLLING PLAINS. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG...WITH HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. HEAVY RAINFALL RESULTING IN LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING IS ALSO POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY IN ARROYOS AND AREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. 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 44
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 232 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2015 TXZ058-067-122015- WARD-REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS- 232 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2015 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AFFECTING EAST CENTRAL REEVES AND WESTERN WARD COUNTIES UNTIL 315 PM CDT... A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 19 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PYOTE AT 232 PM CDT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THE AREA AFFECTED INCLUDES INTERSTATE 20 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 41 AND 61. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... GUSTY WINDS... HAIL... HEAVY RAIN... AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE. IF SEVERE WEATHER IS OBSERVED...HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN MIDLAND. && LAT...LON 3162 10333 3151 10304 3124 10330 3127 10340 TIME...MOT...LOC 1932Z 205DEG 19KT 3135 10333
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A thunderstorm moved across Brewster County and produced a 59 mph wind gust at the Panther Junction RAWS station.
A thunderstorm moved across Brewster County and produced a 58 mph wind gust at the Big Bend Portable RAWS station.
A thunderstorm moved across Terrell County and produced a 68 mph wind gust at the Dryden ASOS site.
A thunderstorm moved across Terrell County and produced a 68 mph wind gust at the Dryden ASOS site.
Large tree uprooted in south Midland.
At West County Road and University, running water approximately 10 inches deep and over sidewalks. Video via Social Media.
A thunderstorm moved across Glasscock County and lightning struck and caused a tank battery fire near Garden City. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate. There were no injuries reported.
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: 569162, 569163, 568033, 568034, 569165, 569166, 568035, 568036, 568037, 568038, 568039, 568041, 568042, 569159.