Very hot temperatures during the afternoon was enough to break an inversion that resulted in scattered thunderstorms within an unstable airmass. With a deeply mixed boundary layer, the primary hazard from these thunderstorms were microburst winds.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
Very hot temperatures during the afternoon was enough to break an inversion that resulted in scattered thunderstorms within an unstable airmass. With a deeply mixed boundary layer, the primary hazard from these thunderstorms were microburst winds. However, very strong instability over the Rolling Plains did result in large hail. Furthermore, strong outflow winds well away from convective activity resulted in severe wind gusts.
High winds reports from the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet:
64 mph at Graham (Garza County), 62 mph at Dimmitt (Castro County), 60 mph at Hart (Castro County), and 59 mph at Childress (Childress 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 Jun 15, 2:36 PM CST, 1 hour 36 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lubbock TX 336 PM CDT WED JUN 15 2016 .SHORT TERM... Temperatures at 3 pm are quite toasty across the forecast area. Observations from the West Texas Mesonet range from 94 degrees at Olton to 100 degrees at Turkey and several other sites. Although dewpoints have mixed down across the Caprock, we still have dewpoints loitering near 70 degrees in the Rolling Plains, and this is resulting in heat indices around 100 to 106. We do not expect the heat indices to reach 110 degrees in the Rolling Plains this afternoon (nor tomorrow afternoon) which would trigger a Heat Advisory, but nonetheless the air is certainly hot and muggy enough for us to recommend the standard heat precautions regarding not leaving pets in vehicles, drinking plenty of water, wearing sunscreen, etc. Regional radar and satellite imagery shows storms developing across the higher terrain of New Mexico and the Trans-Pecos region, extending into southeast New Mexico. Closer to home, high-based cumulus are forming in the deeply-mixed air mass on the Caprock. The latest guidance is still indicating isolated to scattered t-storm development within the next 2-3 hours across eastern New Mexico and the western South Plains, and some of the guidance like the TTU-WRF is now more aggressive with the northward and eastward extent of development. The activity will have limited CAPE to work with initially, but as it slowly progresses eastward it may be able to tap into the higher CAPE environment across the central and southern South Plains, leading to stronger storms and a greater severe threat. Severe wind gusts remain the primary concern, but there could be a window for large hail as well. Some of the high-res guidance indicates that storms may congeal into a small cluster this evening somewhere across the central or southern South Plains. If this cluster develops, it is possible it could linger a bit past 06 UTC so we have added an isolated mention for some of the area. For Thursday, upper ridging over the region may receive a small dent as a weak shortwave swings across the southern Rockies. Temps are expected to be similar to today, with highs mainly in the upper 90s to 102 or so. Forecast soundings show that these temps will be warm enough to erode the cap, such that convergence along a surface trough extending from southeast New Mexico northeast into the Texas Panhandle may be sufficient for some isolated t-storm development - and we've added a mention to the forecast. Coverage and overall intensity of the storms will likely be lower than today, but instability should still be adequate for some stronger cells. .LONG TERM... Big story in the long-term remains the heat continuing to build a degree or two each day through the weekend. 1000-500hPA thicknesses will continue to build as the ridge strengthens through Saturday. We will continue to watch how temperatures respond/recover in the morning hours as well as heat indices in the afternoon, especially for the Rolling Plains, to see if a heat advisory will be needed. For now, lower dewpoints/RH values should keep the heat indices in the Rolling Plains below 110 degrees F but we will have to watch the West Texas Mesonet stations across that part of the forecast area to see what happens. Temperatures may cool off just a tad for Sunday and Monday as the center of the ridge shifts to the north and west of the area, lowering heights and thickness values just a bit. Temperatures may try to warm again by the very end of this forecast package as the ridge starts to slide southward towards the area once again. The ECMWF continues to try and develop afternoon/evening convection across the area each day through the forecast but subsidence under the ridge, lower surface dewpoints, and a lack of any boundary to help force storms to develop mean a dry forecast will continue through the extended. Jordan && .LUB Watches/Warnings/Advisories... None. && 33/14
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1146 AM CDT WED JUN 15 2016 TXZ021>044-161700- PARMER-CASTRO-SWISHER-BRISCOE-HALL-CHILDRESS-BAILEY-LAMB-HALE- FLOYD-MOTLEY-COTTLE-COCHRAN-HOCKLEY-LUBBOCK-CROSBY-DICKENS-KING- YOAKUM-TERRY-LYNN-GARZA-KENT-STONEWALL- 1146 AM CDT WED JUN 15 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH ACTIVITY MORE LIKELY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL SOUTH PLAINS. THE OVERALL SEVERE THREAT WILL BE LOW, BUT A FEW STRONGER STORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL TO GOLF BALL SIZE AND SEVERE WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 65 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY TO THE WEST OF INTERSTATE 27 AND HIGHWAY 87. THERE IS A SMALL THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WITH ANY STORMS. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... LIMITED SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN THE SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ROLLING PLAINS.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 341 PM CDT WED JUN 15 2016 TXZ025-026-031-032-037-038-043-044-160000- HALL-CHILDRESS-MOTLEY-COTTLE-DICKENS-KING-KENT-STONEWALL- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MEMPHIS...CHILDRESS...MATADOR... ROARING SPRINGS...PADUCAH...HACKBERRY...SPUR...DICKENS...DUMONT... FINNEY...GROW...GUTHRIE...JAYTON...ASPERMONT 341 PM CDT WED JUN 15 2016 ...HOT TEMPERATURE AND HIGH HUMIDITIES ARE BRINGING SULTRY CONDITIONS TO THE ROLLING PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON... TEMPERATURES NEAR 100 DEGREES COMBINING WITH HIGH MOISTURE LEVELS WILL RESULT IN HEAT INDEX VALUES BETWEEN 100 AND 110 DEGREES THROUGH ABOUT 7 PM THIS EVENING. THIS HEAT WILL PUT STRESS ON PEOPLE AND ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY WHEN IN THE SUN. TAKE PRECAUTIONS IF YOU WORK OR SPEND TIME OUTSIDE, INCLUDING DRINKING PLENTY OF WATER AND TAKING MORE FREQUENT BREAKS. BE SURE NOT TO LEAVE YOUNG CHILDREN OR PETS IN PARKED VEHICLES AS TEMPERATURES CAN QUICKLY BECOME DANGEROUS.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 425 PM CDT WED JUN 15 2016 TXZ025-152200- HALL TX- 425 PM CDT WED JUN 15 2016 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR WESTERN HALL COUNTY UNTIL 500 PM CDT... AT 423 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES NORTH OF TURKEY...MOVING EAST AT 5 MPH. NICKEL SIZE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... LAKEVIEW AND PLASKA COMMUNITY. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD TO LOCALIZED FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS. && LAT...LON 3443 10059 3434 10095 3475 10094 3475 10060 TIME...MOT...LOC 2123Z 257DEG 5KT 3455 10083 23
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:12 UTC.
9 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The fire department in Lockney reported hail up to ping pong ball size north of Lockney.
A storm chaser reported baseball size hail. No damage was reported.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site southwest of Sundown reported a wind gust to 61 mph.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Anton measured a wind gust to 66 mph.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Olton measured a wind gust to 75 mph. Furthermore, a NWS cooperative weather observed several power poles down along US Highway 84 southeast of Littlefield.
Local broadcast media relayed a report of damage to the Cotton Center football field. The Cotton Center elementary school also lost a portion of the roof due to high winds.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Plainview reported a wind gust to 62 mph.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Aiken measured a wind gust to 69 mph.
The Automated Surface Observation System at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport reported a wind gust to 79 mph.
The emergency manager in Silverton reported golf ball size hail. No damage was reported.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site in Caprock Canyons State Park measured a wind gust to 62 mph.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Turkey measured a wind gust to 62 mph. Additionally, a storm chaser along Texas State Highway 70 north of Turkey estimated wind gusts to 65 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, June 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: 630401, 630402, 630403, 630404, 630405, 630406, 630409, 630407, 630408, 630410, 630411, 630412, 630413, 630414, 630415.