An upper level low to the west of the region combined with a dryline along the Interstate-27 corridor to create scattered thunderstorms on the afternoon of the 28th. A few of these storms became severe as they tracked over the eastern South Plains and Rolling 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.
An upper level low to the west of the region combined with a dryline along the Interstate-27 corridor to create scattered thunderstorms on the afternoon of the 28th. A few of these storms became severe as they tracked over the eastern South Plains and Rolling Plains. A landspout tornado was observed near one of these severe storms in Hall 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, 1:42 PM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 242 PM CDT THU APR 28 2016 .SHORT TERM... MOISTURE RETURN HAS BEEN FAIRLY ROBUST WITH THETA-E AXIS EXTENDING JUST WEST OF THE US-87 I-27 CORRIDOR THENCE CURVING BACK A BIT NORTHWEST TOWARD DIMMITT. CUMULUS HAS DEVELOPED ALONG THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE AXIS AND THIS IS AN AREA WHICH IS HINTED AT FOR INITIATION BY MANY OF THE HIGHER RESOLUTION NWP SOLUTIONS. OVER THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS...THE THETA-E RIDGE HAS BECOME A BIT MORE N/S ORIENTED AND WHILE THE ORIENTATION OF THE MID LEVEL FLOW IS NOT NEARLY AS NORMAL TO THE SURFACE BOUNDARY...IT SHOULD REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR DISCRETE CONVECTION. WINDS CONTINUE TO BACK ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN SOUTH PLAINS AND NORTHERN ROLLING PLAINS GIVEN PRESSURE FALLS TO OUR WEST IN RESPONSE TO APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL LOW. THIS WILL HELP TO INCREASE LOW LEVEL HELICITY AND ENHANCE RISK OF LOW LEVEL ROTATION. 0-1KM SHEAR IS NOT TERRIBLY IMPRESSIVE THIS AFTERNOON BUT DOES RAMP UP SHARPLY FOR THE SECOND ROUND OF SEVERE CONVECTION TONIGHT. HAVE INCREASED POPS FOR THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE EASTERN PART OF THE CWFA ALONG WITH ATTENDANT MENTION OF SEVERE. THREAT OF BASEBALLS/70MPH/TORNADOES CONTINUES TO LOOK REASONABLE. OVERALL A GUARDED VIGILANCE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS REMAINS WARRANTED THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT. .LONG TERM... AN UNSETTLED PATTERN OF WEATHER WILL CONTINUE IN THE LONG TERM FORECAST. A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT RELIEVING THE AREA OF DRY CONDITIONS WEST OF THE DRYLINE. THIS FRONT COMBINED WITH A WEAK SHORT WAVE ALOFT MAY BE ABLE TO INITIATE SOME CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IN EASTERN NEW MEXICO TOWARDS THE TEXAS/NEW MEXICO BORDER. HOWEVER...STORMS WOULD LIKELY HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME MAINTAINING THEMSELVES GIVEN AN AREA OF UPPER LEVEL CONVERGENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER LEVEL JET STREAK OVERHEAD. ADDITIONAL SHORT WAVES WILL CONTINUE TO ROTATE AROUND A NEARLY STATIONARY UPPER LEVEL LOW IN EASTERN COLORADO THIS WEEKEND. THE NEXT WEAK SHORT WAVE WILL ARRIVE SATURDAY NIGHT COUPLED AGAIN WITH ANOTHER COLD FRONT WHICH MAY AGAIN BRING IN SOME CONVECTION FROM THE WEST. RIDGING ALOFT WILL QUICKLY FOLLOW THIS SHORT WAVE SO PROSPECTS FOR CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ARE LOW. THE NEXT UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL DROP DOWN THE CASCADES AND SIERRA NEVADA RANGES INTO SOUTHERN ARIZONA ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THIS WILL CAUSE UPPER FLOW LOCALLY TO BACK TO THE SOUTHWEST AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM. THIS SYSTEM WILL WEAKEN AS IT MOVES OUT OF THE SOUTHWESTERN US NEXT WEEK BUT BEST CHANCES FOR CONVECTION LOOK TO BE SUNDAY AND MONDAY. LIFT WILL BE DRIVEN BY SHORT WAVES OUT AHEAD OF THIS TROUGH AND MOIST ISENTROPIC ASCENT. WE WILL GENERALLY BE UNDER COOL EASTERLY FLOW TO START OFF NEXT WEEK IN THE WAKE OF THE COLD FRONT ON SATURDAY. THIS WILL ALSO KEEP TEMPERATURES UNSEASONABLY COOL KEEPING PROSPECTS OF SEVERE STORMS LOW. AFTER THIS SYSTEM EXITS...WE WILL BE UNDER UPPER LEVEL RIDGING FOR THE MIDDLE PART OF NEXT WEEK. ALTHOUGH MODELS HAVE INDICATED THE POTENTIAL FOR NORTHWEST FLOW STORMS IN THIS PATTERN. && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 26/01
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1126 AM CDT THU APR 28 2016 TXZ021>044-291630- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 1126 AM CDT THU APR 28 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTH PLAINS...ROLLING PLAINS AND THE FAR SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY MID TO LATE AFTERNOON ALONG OR NEAR A LINE FROM POST TO LUBBOCK TO DIMMITT AND THEN MOVE EAST AND NORTHEAST INTO THE ROLLING PLAINS...NORTHEASTERN SOUTH PLAINS...AND SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE. LARGE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF BASEBALLS...WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE. A SECOND ROUND OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE PROBABILITY OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:21 UTC.
7 hail, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple reports, by Lockney fire department and storm chasers, of hail up to the size of golf balls were reported from Lockney to South Plains . No damage was reported.
Multiple reports were received of hail up to the size of golf balls from Quitaque to Caprock Canyons State Park. The Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet station at the state park sustained minor hail damage.
An NWS cooperative weather observer in Turkey, and a few citizens of Turkey, reported hail up to the size of golf balls. This hail persisted for almost 20 minutes. Damage to windows and car windshields was reported.
Hail up to two inches in diameter occurred in Floyd County. Multiple reports were received from storm chasers, NWS cooperative weather observers, and emergency managers. However, no reports of damage were received.
A storm chaser captured video of a very brief landspout tornado in Hall County.
The public reported hail up to the size of quarters about three miles south of Estelline.
The public reported several tree limbs downed by strong winds estimated to be around 60 mph.
A public report was relayed by local broadcast media of quarter size hail in Cee Vee. No damage was reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2016Warnings in Texas, April 2016
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: 622148, 622151, 622149, 622150, 622152, 622156, 622153, 622154, 622155.