Texas, 2018

Tornado and Flooding in Texas, October 8, 2018

October 8, 2018 · NWS LUB · 13 events in 11 counties and zones

Early morning showers and thunderstorms across much of the South Plains were followed by additional rounds of heavy rainfall through midday. The latter rounds of rain were focused near and just east of the Interstate 27 and US Highway 87 corridor where as much as two inches of rain fell on top of soils that were already saturated from heavy rains that fell just three days earlier.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
$200,000
Events
13

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LUB wrote it up.

Early morning showers and thunderstorms across much of the South Plains were followed by additional rounds of heavy rainfall through midday. The latter rounds of rain were focused near and just east of the Interstate 27 and US Highway 87 corridor where as much as two inches of rain fell on top of soils that were already saturated from heavy rains that fell just three days earlier. The result was widespread flooding of poor drainage areas over much of the South Plains, including a few temporary road closures such as FM Road 179 near Cotton Center where nearly three feet water covered the road. In the wake of the flooding rains, a supercell thunderstorm developed in western Terry County along an outflow boundary leftover from the morning rain. After producing a five-minute tornado west of Brownfield over open land, this storm crawled east for the next 1.5 hours with severe hail at times.

What forecasters said that day

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 Oct 7, 11:28 PM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 7, 11:28 PM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 7, 11:31 PM CST, 2 hours 29 minutes before
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The radar

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:00 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 flood, 2 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Castro

When
October 8, 2:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Castro County, 4.86 mi SW of Sunnyside to 7.41 mi SE of Hart
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
34.310, -102.370

Flood, Hockley

When
October 8, 3:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Hockley County, 3.98 mi NW of Oklahoma Flat to 4.3 mi NNE of Roundup
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
33.820, -102.450

Flood, Hockley

When
October 8, 3:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Hockley County, 3.98 mi NW of Oklahoma Flat to 4.3 mi NNE of Roundup
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
33.820, -102.450

Flood, Lamb

When
October 8, 3:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Lamb County, 8.04 mi W of Lums Chapel to 6.82 mi SSE of Spade
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
33.830, -102.470

Flood, Hale

When
October 8, 4:00 AM CST to 1:00 PM CST
Where
Hale County, 10.93 mi W of Edmonson to 8.37 mi WNW of Countyline
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
34.300, -102.090

Flood, Swisher

When
October 8, 5:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Swisher County, 4.59 mi W of Happy to 6.24 mi WSW of Kress
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
34.740, -101.930

Flood, Floyd

When
October 8, 8:00 AM CST to 1:00 PM CST
Where
Floyd County, 7.96 mi WSW of Mc Coy to 8.26 mi SSE of Dougherty
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
33.830, -101.560

Flood, Briscoe

When
October 8, 8:00 AM CST to 1:00 PM CST
Where
Briscoe County, 7.7 mi NE of Vigo Park to 26.19 mi SW of Whiteley
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
34.740, -101.400

Flood, Lubbock

When
October 8, 9:00 AM CST to 1:00 PM CST
Where
Lubbock County, 9.82 mi WNW of Caldwell to 5.86 mi SSW of Wolfforth
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
33.820, -102.080

Flood, Crosby

When
October 8, 10:00 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where
Crosby County, 11.87 mi S of Robertson to 6.35 mi NW of Estacado
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
33.400, -101.550

Tornado, Terry

When
October 8, 4:02 PM CST to 4:07 PM CST
Where
Terry County, 1.82 mi NNE of Gomez to 2.08 mi NNE of Gomez
Rating
EFU
Path length
0.52 mi
Path width
30 yd
Reported by
Storm Chaser
Coordinates
33.205, -102.370

This tornado drifted slowly east over cotton fields. Damage, if any, was not known.

Hail, Terry

When
October 8, 4:20 PM CST
Where
Terry County, 3 mi E of Brownfield
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Storm Chaser
Coordinates
33.180, -102.228

Damage information was not available.

Hail, Lynn

When
October 8, 5:02 PM CST
Where
Lynn County, 4 mi W of New Home
Measured
1.75 in hail
Crop damage
$200,000
Reported by
Insurance Company
Coordinates
33.320, -101.989

An insurance adjuster relayed hail damage to cotton crops in northwest Lynn County. Approximately 300 acres of cotton and sorghum sustained moderate to heavy damage.

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2018Warnings in Texas, October 2018

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 778529, 778526, 778527, 778528, 778524, 778522, 778531, 778532, 778525, 778530, 778521, 778541, 778588.