Deep tropical moisture streaming overhead from remnants of eastern Pacific tropical system Bud fueled isolated to scattered thunderstorms from eastern New Mexico into the South Plains on the afternoon of the 16th. Very warm near surface temperatures allowed a few of these thunderstorms to produce severe wind gusts.
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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.
Deep tropical moisture streaming overhead from remnants of eastern Pacific tropical system Bud fueled isolated to scattered thunderstorms from eastern New Mexico into the South Plains on the afternoon of the 16th. Very warm near surface temperatures allowed a few of these thunderstorms to produce severe wind gusts. One such storm produced damage in the city of Levelland (Hockley County) which downed power lines and ripped metal roofs off two structures.
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 16, 2:24 PM CST, 41 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lubbock TX 324 PM CDT Sat Jun 16 2018 .DISCUSSION... Deep southerly flow has carried improved tropospheric moisture into the South Plains. 19Z dewpoints were running 2 to 10 degrees higher than 24 hours ago with temperatures generally a few degrees lower. In addition to providing a round of morning low clouds and an impressive afternoon cumulus field, this moisture, coupled with daytime heating and the glancing influences of Hurricane Bud's remnants, have fueled the development of a line of thunderstorms across eastern New Mexico. Individual cells in the line were moving NNE, but the line as a whole was advancing eastward, with new development occurring ahead of the line near the TX/NM line from near Clovis northward as well as over the western South Plains. All of this activity will continue propagating eastward and the line should enter our far western zones around and after 21Z. MLCAPE values of 1000-1500 J/kg could promote a few strong to severe cores. Relatively tall and skin CAPE profiles suggest only a low-end/minimal severe hail threat, but heavy precipitation loading (thanks to the rich moisture) and steep low-level lapse rates will support hybrid microbursts that could push severe thresholds, as has occurred near Carlsbad earlier this afternoon. In addition, the high PWAT air will support locally heavy rainfall, with 1 to 2+ inch totals likely in some spots across the western and central South Plains and southwest Texas Panhandle from late this afternoon through tonight. It does appear the heaviest downpours should move enough to preclude a more widespread flash flood threat this evening, though localized urban and small stream flooding will be possible. Given this, we have not issued a FFA, but continue to highlight the localized heavy rain threat in the HWO and grids. It does appear the axis of precipitation may tend to stall/redevelop and train on the Caprock late tonight, but by then the available instability will be waning, which would tend to limit the threat of excessively heavy rainfall. Further east, off the Caprock, and especially over the eastern Rolling Plains, precipitation will struggle to maintain itself and most of these spots expected to receive little to no rainfall through Sunday morning. The overnight activity may linger into Sunday morning, though how long it persists is unclear and will have ramifications on the rest of the day. Regardless, the mid-level moisture plume will be thinning through the day as what remains of Bud lifts into the Midwest. Even so, the thinning plume will linger from north-to- south over the South Plains, and coupled with a low-level theta-e axis, it may be enough for isolated to scattered convective redevelopment during the afternoon/evening, if heating and destabilization is sufficient. An ejecting shortwave trough, on the heels of Bud, could provide a glancing shot of lift too, though the bulk of this energy will skirt us to the north. Good moisture will linger into early next week, though with a relative lack of upper support, storm chances/coverage remains nebulous. Given this and recent NWP QPF signals, we have trended PoPs downward from late Sunday into early next week, but still have maintained slight chance to low chance PoPs. There is better agreement that the western trough will then eject eastward across the High Plains around midweek. Initially, this could provide a little large scale ascent before perhaps supporting a period of northwest flow and even a frontal/outflow boundary in the region. If this comes to fruition, more widespread storm chances would visit the region, with the northern and northeastern zones currently looking most favored. Hence we have continued high chance PoPs across the north from late Tuesday into Thursday. Wind shear and instability may also increase enough to raise the risk for some severe storms, though details remain sketchy this far out. Beyond that, flat upper ridging may try and reassert itself across the southern CONUS. This would support a warming and drying trend, though whether storm chances completely fade is less than clear. Outside of the periodic rain chances, the increased moisture and cloud cover will temper the diurnal temperature swings through much of this coming week. This will mean mild nights with late afternoon temperatures around or slightly below average. && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && 23
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lubbock TX 1004 AM CDT Sat Jun 16 2018 TXZ021>044-170315- Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale- Floyd-Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King- Yoakum-Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall- 1004 AM CDT Sat Jun 16 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the South Plains, Rolling Plains and the far Southern Texas Panhandle. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight There is a risk of heavy rain late this afternoon through tonight west of the Interstate 27 and U.S. Highway 87 corridor. Some thunderstorms may become strong to briefly severe late this afternoon and early this evening west of U.S. Highway 385 with the main threat being wind gusts in excess of 50 mph. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected today or tonight.
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:04 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Levelland measured a wind gust to 66 mph.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Earth measured a wind gust to 69 mph.
At 1705 CST, a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site four miles south of Levelland measured a wind gust to 58 mph. About 14 minutes later, the Hockley County Sheriff's department reported several instances of wind damage in town, including downed power lines and two metal roofs ripped off structures.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, June 2018
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: 750946, 750947, 750948.