The afternoon of the 20th was the beginning of an extended period of several weeks of severe weather for the South Plains and Rolling Plains of West Texas. A high risk of severe weather was issued by the Storm Prediction Center in the morning for the afternoon of the 20th.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
The afternoon of the 20th was the beginning of an extended period of several weeks of severe weather for the South Plains and Rolling Plains of West Texas. A high risk of severe weather was issued by the Storm Prediction Center in the morning for the afternoon of the 20th. Southwest flow aloft with an embedded mid level jet streak contributed to an ample amount of lift across the region. Numerous thunderstorms developed east of the dryline which was located west of the Interstate 27/US Highway 87 corridor. Very strong instability developed out ahead of the dryline in the warm sector along with favorable shear for supercell and tornado development. Although no long track tornadoes were observed, there were several weak tornadoes that developed. The most destructive storm of the afternoon was a supercell that moved through parts of the city of Lubbock (Lubbock County). A widespread swath of wind gusts in excess of 60 mph and extensive wind damage was seen from southern Lubbock County up through the south side of Lubbock and into Idalou. Due to the fast moving nature of the thunderstorms, this damage occurred over a period of only nine minutes from 1504 through 1513 CST. Most damage reports consisted of downed trees and power lines.
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 May 20, 12:56 PM CST, 9 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lubbock TX 156 PM CDT Mon May 20 2019 .DISCUSSION... The main focus of today's forecast will be the not-so-secret severe threat. Skies have already begun to thin out with a cumulus field forming from southeast to northwest. This will allow the build up of additional CAPE in which MLCAPE is already sitting at over 3000 J/kg. At the same time the dryline is just now approaching the TX/NM state line at a slower/later pace than previously shown by short- term models. This would hint at storms developing further west (west of Lubbock) than current models are indicating (along/east of the I27/US87 corridor). The one thing that could hinder westward development would be mixing occurring across our western zones. Right now at most this would hinder the extent of the significant tornado threat, however it would not make it null. There are also indications of convection trying to develop along the dryline with light reflectivities showing up near Olton and Anton. Any storm that develops will have a high probability of becoming severe. Very steep lapse rates with 0-6km shear in excess of 50 knots will support the potential for very large hail over 3-4 inches. 12Z soundings at MAF and AMA revealed 0-1km SRH of 295 to 341 m2/s2 respectively. Current analysis shows that SRH has decreased somewhat due to surface winds becoming more southerly, but this does little to deter the threat for tornadoes. SRH remains higher across the Rolling Plains and eastern Texas Panhandle where the greatest tornado threat exists. With abundant shear, helicity, and low LCLs some tornadoes will have the potential to be violent. Tomorrow the surface low will pull eastward across KS allowing for a fairly windy day with near to above advisory level winds across much of the FA especially across our northwestern zones. We could see additional bouts of showers and thunderstorms by late week into early weekend as another upper low digs into the Four Corners region. && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && 51/99
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lubbock TX 1130 AM CDT Mon May 20 2019 TXZ021>044-210430- Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale- Floyd-Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King- Yoakum-Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall- 1130 AM CDT Mon May 20 2019 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the South Plains, Rolling Plains and the far Southern Texas Panhandle. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight An outbreak of severe thunderstorms including significant tornadoes continues to be likely this afternoon and evening, generally along and east of a line from Dimmitt to Brownfield. The atmosphere will destabilize this afternoon east of a dryline expected to stall across the central South Plains. Supercells are likely to develop early to mid afternoon east of the dryline and will race northeast at speeds of 45 to 50 mph. These storms will be capable of producing long lived tornadoes, giant hail to softball size, and damaging winds of 70 mph or more. Later this evening, a large squall line is expected to develop on the Caprock and sweep east accompanied by all modes of severe weather, including flooding. Today we advise those in West Texas to maintain high situational awareness of the weather around them and understand that today's environment will support rapid storm intensification and likely produce high-end severe weather. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday Strong westerly winds of 30 to 40 mph with higher gusts are expected over much of the region on Tuesday. Beginning Wednesday night and continuing through Sunday, daily chances for severe storms are expected as an active pattern resumes across much of the region. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will likely be needed.
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:04 UTC.
11 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Both a storm chaser and an off duty NWS employee observed a weak tornado in Dickens County south of McAdoo, just south of US Highway 82 / Texas Highway 114. The tornado remained over open land and did not cause any known damage.
An off duty NWS employee that was storm chasing reported hail up to half dollar size.
The emergency manager for Cottle County witnessed and provided video evidence of a brief tornado near the intersection of US Highway 62 and Farm to Market Road 1037 west of Paducah.
The emergency manager for Cottle County witnessed and provided video evidence of a tornado near the intersection of County Road 108 and Farm to Market Road 1037 northwest of Paducah.
A storm chaser reported hail up to the size of tennis balls along Texas Highway 256 in northwestern Childress County.
From 1446 through 1450 CST, severe wind gusts were observed by the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site in New Home. The strongest gust reached 75 mph along with one-minute sustained winds of 64 mph. Furthermore, pictures on social media revealed that a few power lines were downed by these high winds.
A long swath of severe thunderstorm winds caused widespread damage in Lubbock County near Slide, through the city of Lubbock, into Idalou. The peak wind gust recorded was 63 mph by the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport. The NWS office on the south side of the city of Lubbock recorded a wind gust to 60 mph. Numerous trees and utility poles were reported to have been blown over or snapped. Additionally, a home under construction was destroyed by the destructive winds. A semi-trailer was blown over onto a car near the intersection of Farm to Market roads 41 and 1730 in southern Lubbock County.
Hail up to golf ball size was reported near the intersection of 114th Street and Quaker Avenue in the city of Lubbock. This hail report was among the widespread swath of thunderstorm wind damage as the same time.
An NWS cooperative weather observer reported quarter size hail in Turkey. No damage was reported.
Local media relayed a report of golf ball size hail approximately ten miles west of O'Donnell.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Abernathy recorded a wind gust to 58 mph.
A NWS cooperative weather observer reported quarter size hail in Floydada. No damage was reported.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Floydada measured a wind gust to 74 mph.
The emergency manager for Crosby County reported quarter size hail approximately five miles south of Ralls on Texas Highway 207. No damage was reported.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Spur recorded a wind gust to 80 mph. Furthermore, a swath of thunderstorm wind damage was observed near Spur to approximately six miles north of Spur. Fire department personnel in Spur reported 20 utility poles blown over along Farm to Market Road 1868 just northwest of Spur. Also, a roof was blown off of a house near the intersection of Texas Highway 70 and County Road 466.
Numerous storm chasers observed a large rain wrapped tornado about 15 miles east of Dickens near US Highway 82. A storm chaser did report that there were trees downed near the intersection of US Highway 82 and County Road 371.
A storm chaser reported hail up to golf ball size two miles south of Guthrie.
Law enforcement in Jayton reported quarter size hail. No damage was reported.
Repeated rounds of thunderstorms and heavy rain lead to minor flooding in Stonewall County on the north side of Aspermont. It was reported that about eight inches of water was flowing over US Highway 83.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2019Warnings in Texas, May 2019
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: 823651, 823599, 823600, 825539, 825540, 823602, 823601, 823605, 823608, 823629, 823613, 823616, 823618, 823617, 823624, 823625, 823627, 823653, 823637, 823639, 823730.