High Wind, Swisher
- When
- January 18, 5:34 PM CST to 9:07 PM CST
- Where
- Swisher forecast zone
- Measured
- 40 kt (46 mph) measured sustained
- Reported by
- Mesonet
- Coordinates
- 34.530, -101.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Texas, January 18, 2019
On the heels of a strong cold front late this afternoon, north winds of 30 to 40 mph with frequent gusts around 50 mph enveloped much of the region for a brief period of time. Winds gusted as high as 71 mph as measured by a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet station located six miles SSW of Anton (Hockley County) at 1845 CST.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
On the heels of a strong cold front late this afternoon, north winds of 30 to 40 mph with frequent gusts around 50 mph enveloped much of the region for a brief period of time. Winds gusted as high as 71 mph as measured by a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet station located six miles SSW of Anton (Hockley County) at 1845 CST. Many other locations in central and eastern Hockley County also reported gusts of 60 mph or more through 1855 CST. Fortunately, these high winds caused no known damage, but thick blowing dust with low visibility to one half mile or less was common for about 15 minutes downwind of open fields and construction sites.
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 Jan 18, 5:19 PM CST, 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 18, 5:19 PM CST, 15 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lubbock TX 519 PM CST Fri Jan 18 2019 .AVIATION... Caution: Bumpy ride ahead. Winds are not forecast to cease until tomorrow morning after the passage of a cold front. BLDU may also bring KPVW and KLBB down to MVFR VIS at times. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 155 PM CST Fri Jan 18 2019/ DISCUSSION... Early this afternoon, a well developed upper trough continued to dig across southern CO and northeast NM well north of multiple jet cores stacked from 850-300mb across the southern TX South Plains. These jet axes are directly atop the heart of empty cotton fields which has supported blowing dust and visibilities to around four miles at Whiteface in eastern Cochran County. Also, some virga or very light showers had recently developed in Yoakum County at 130 PM just ahead of the upper trough axis. As the base of the upper trough overspreads the region later this afternoon, sharp mid-level cooling to around -22C at 500mb should breed weak instability for some rain showers and even a few lightning strikes (mainly on the Caprock). This activity should improve in coverage by early this evening with the arrival of a modified Canadian front, and most models do cluster precip our NW zones early this evening where the best Fn ascent coincides with colder temps and better lapse rates aloft. The southward extent of this precip should terminate rather close to our southern zones as the parent trough continues moving east and inevitably outruns the front. Until this happens, profiles will cool considerably and support a changeover to some light snow showers (generally after 9 PM) across the northern half of our forecast area, but accumulations should be next to nil given mild surface temps. Wind-wise, there will probably be some instances of high winds in our NE zones tonight behind the front given strong pressures rises of 10mb/3hr and ample winds in the mixed layer, but as a whole our wind advisory looks most representative for this setup. By Saturday morning, cool surface ridging will build south across the Caprock but remain shy of the Rolling Plains where some gusts over 30 mph are likely early in the morning. North winds will scale lower through the afternoon as the ridge expands region wide, but already by the evening we expect light westerly winds following a hasty departure of this ridge. Aloft, NW winds will continue to slacken ahead of an upper ridge that is progged to flatten considerably on Sunday ahead of an influx of high clouds that could complicate viewing of the lunar eclipse later that night. Otherwise, lee troughing and breezy SW winds for Sunday will only gain momentum by Monday ahead of another digging trough that may push afternoon winds into the 25-30 mph range. Aside from bumping up winds and high temperatures for Monday, no other changes were necessary next week as models keep us in a pattern of progressive troughs and (mostly) dry cold fronts - the first Monday night followed by another o/a Wednesday night. Barring a transition to sharper northerly flow by midweek, predominantly NNW flow looks to keep the coldest air directed east of our region. However, the ECMWF is the most bullish with arctic air invading the middle of the CONUS by late week following a westward expansion of the Polar Vortex across the Hudson Bay. As usual, this is too distant to give much credence to this far out, but we'll keep high temps generally below normal for late week until we see better clarity from the medium range guidance. && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 9 PM CST this evening for TXZ021>024-027>030- 033>036-039>042. Wind Advisory until 6 AM CST Saturday for TXZ025-026-031-032-037- 038. && 99/99/74
Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 18, 2:18 PM CST, 3 hours 16 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED National Weather Service Lubbock TX 218 PM CST Fri Jan 18 2019 TXZ021>044-190830- Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale- Floyd-Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King- Yoakum-Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall- 218 PM CST Fri Jan 18 2019 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the South Plains, Rolling Plains and the far Southern Texas Panhandle. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight Strong westerly winds this afternoon will turn northerly behind a cold front by this evening. Sustained winds of 30 mph or higher are likely. A Wind Advisory is in effect on the Caprock until 9 PM, and in effect for the Rolling Plains from 6 PM until 6 AM Saturday. Elevated wildfire conditions will remain a threat area wide until 9 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday A risk for wildfires may redevelop on Monday due to unusually warm and very breezy conditions.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Hockley
- When
- January 18, 6:45 PM CST to 6:55 PM CST
- Where
- Hockley forecast zone
- Measured
- 62 kt (71 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- Mesonet
- Coordinates
- 33.608, -102.343 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Wisconsin, January 18 to 20, 2019
- Winter Storm in Illinois, January 18 to 19, 2019
- Heavy Rain in Oregon, January 18, 2019
- Winter Storm in Iowa, January 18 to 19, 2019
- Dense Fog in Virginia, January 18, 2019
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Illinois, January 18 to 19, 2019
- Winter Storm in Illinois, January 18 to 19, 2019
- Winter Storm in Iowa, January 18 to 19, 2019
- Heavy Snow in South Dakota, January 18 to 19, 2019
- High Wind in New Mexico, January 18, 2019
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, January 18 to 20, 2019
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, January 18 to 19, 2019
More
Every storm in Texas in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2019
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 794247, 794245.