An upper level low pressure system pushed across the Trans-Pecos into southern New Mexico this afternoon and evening as a diffuse dryline set up across the South Plains region. Widespread thunderstorms developed, with one southwest of Memphis (Hall County) becoming strong enough to produce hail up to hen egg size.
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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.
An upper level low pressure system pushed across the Trans-Pecos into southern New Mexico this afternoon and evening as a diffuse dryline set up across the South Plains region. Widespread thunderstorms developed, with one southwest of Memphis (Hall County) becoming strong enough to produce hail up to hen egg size.
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 12, 2:41 PM CST, 2 hours 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 341 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2015 .SHORT TERM... COMPLICATED WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE IN THE WORKS BEGINNING LATE THIS AFTERNOON. A DRYLINE WAS MIXING EASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON ALTHOUGH THE GRADIENT WAS NOT QUITE AS SHARP AS YESTERDAY. THEREFORE SURFACE CONVERGENCE WILL NOT BE AS STRONG EITHER. WINDS WERE BACKING JUST EAST OF THE ROLLING PLAINS WITH DEW POINTS FROM THE UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S. A LOW LEVEL THETA-E RIDGE WAS OBSERVED WITHIN AND TO THE WEST OF THE HIGHEST DEW POINTS EXTENDING OVER THE ROLLING PLAINS. THICK MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS HAVE DONE LITTLE TO CURB SURFACE HEATING LEADING TO MIXED LAYER INSTABILITIES BETWEEN 1500 AND 2000 J/KG. HOWEVER...THERE IS A STRONGER CAP TODAY AND MODELS DO NOT SHOW IT ERODING UNTIL SOMETIME BETWEEN 23-00Z. THERE IS A CHANCE IT MAY BE ALL QUIET UNTIL AN UPPER LOW AFFECTS THE AREA TONIGHT. LARGE SCALE ASCENT WILL BE ON THE INCREASE THIS EVENING IN DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT OUT AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM. IT WILL LIKELY BE TOO LATE TO ASSIST WITH CAPPING OF AFTERNOON CONVECTION WITH HEIGHT FALLS NOT MOVING IN UNTIL AFTER 00Z. SINCE WE WILL BE IN CLOSER PROXIMITY TO THE UPPER TROUGH...BOTH LOW LEVEL AND DEEP LAYER SHEAR WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WHEN COMPARED TO YESTERDAY. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL RETREAT BACK WEST THIS EVENING AND WILL BE SUPPLEMENTED BY A DEEPER MOISTURE PLUME AHEAD OF THE UPPER TROUGH OBSERVED ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. STRONG MOISTURE ADVECTION COUPLED WITH THE UPPER TROUGH WILL LIKELY BRING WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. AT THE SAME TIME...A COLD FRONT FROM A HUDSON BAY LOW WILL MOVE THROUGH THE PANHANDLES. THIS FRONT WILL THEN MAKE ITS WAY THROUGH THE FA MONDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON. MOIST LIFT ABOVE THE FRONTAL ZONE WILL LIKELY BE ABLE TO COUPLE WITH LIFT FROM THE UPPER TROUGH IN CREATING ADDITIONAL SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORMS ON MONDAY. PRECIPITATION COULD TRAIN NEAR THE FRONT IN CREATING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. .LONG TERM... PRECIPITATION COULD LINGER THROUGH THE MORNING TUESDAY AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW SLOWS DOWN AND TRANSITIONS INTO AN OPEN WAVE ACROSS THE AREA. A FEW OF THE MODELS ALSO KEEP SOME PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE ROLLING PLAINS THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON BUT THIS SEEMS TO BE A BIT OPTIMISTIC AS THE ATMOSPHERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN WORKED OVER AND DRIER AIR STARTS FILTERING IN ALOFT FROM THE WEST. TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER THANKS TO THE LEFT OVER MOISTURE FROM ANY PRECIPITATION AND THE SURFACE RIDGE SLOWLY SHIFTING EAST THROUGH THE DAY TUESDAY. SHORTWAVE RIDGE WILL MOVE OVER THE ARE TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING BUT A RAPID TRANSITION TO SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WILL BRING A RETURN OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND A DRYLINE SOMEWHERE ACROSS THE REGION. MODELS ARE ALREADY TRYING TO BREAK OUT PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE SOUTH PLAINS BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BUT THIS APPEARS TO BE FAIRLY LIGHT AND ASSOCIATED WITH DEEP MIXING WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. ALL MODELS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP A CLOSED LOW NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS REGION THROUGH WEDNESDAY WHICH WILL IMPACT THE FORECAST FOR THE LAST HALF OF THE WEEK. MODELS ARE REALLY STRUGGLING WITH THE DETAILS FOR THURSDAY THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND. THE GFS WANTS TO WRAP UP A SURFACE LOW ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE WHICH WOULD RESULT IN A STRONG DRY PUNCH STARTING LATE THURSDAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH FRIDAY FOR THE FORECAST AREA. THE ECMWF AND CMC MODELS ARE MUCH WEAKER WITH THE LOW AND KEEP THE DRYLINE NEAR THE TX/NM STATE LINE. REGARDLESS... WE SHOULD SEE A RETURN OF RAIN CHANCES STARTING WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR RAIN CHANCES TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. HOWEVER...WILL LEAVE THE FORECAST UNCHANGED DUE TO THE UNCERTAINTIES IN HOW CLOSED LOWS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA AND THE POTENTIAL FOR DRY AIR TO SHUT OFF PRECIPITATION CHANCES. JORDAN && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FRIONA 50 53 41 62 / 70 80 50 10 TULIA 53 56 43 63 / 80 80 60 30 PLAINVIEW 54 56 44 64 / 80 80 60 30 LEVELLAND 54 58 44 66 / 80 80 60 10 LUBBOCK 55 59 46 66 / 80 80 60 20 DENVER CITY 52 61 45 67 / 80 80 50 10 BROWNFIELD 54 61 46 67 / 80 80 60 10 CHILDRESS 59 63 49 66 / 80 80 60 40 SPUR 58 62 48 65 / 70 80 70 30 ASPERMONT 60 67 52 68 / 70 80 60 30 && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 01/14
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 524 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2015 TXZ021>044-132230- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 524 PM CDT SUN APR 12 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING OVER THE ROLLING PLAINS AND FAR SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE AHEAD OF AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM. SOME STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH QUARTER SIZED HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM CDT THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST THROUGH MONDAY. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SOME STORMS TO BECOME STRONG OR SEVERE WILL BE MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF THE ROLLING PLAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO BE ON STANDBY THIS EVENING.
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 120 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:46 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter along with fire department officials observed golf ball to hen egg size hail south and southwest of Memphis.
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: 559591.