Severe thunderstorms erupted for a second straight day across the South Plains. A weak short wave moved out of central New Mexico into West Texas during the afternoon hours which aided in convective development along a dryline.
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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.
Severe thunderstorms erupted for a second straight day across the South Plains. A weak short wave moved out of central New Mexico into West Texas during the afternoon hours which aided in convective development along a dryline. Two general areas of convection matured into severe thunderstorms: one in the south central South Plains and another across the southeastern Texas Panhandle. Multi-cellular thunderstorms developed in Hockley County but quickly moved eastward into Lubbock and Lynn Counties. These storms produced mostly one inch sized hail, but hail as big as an inch and a half was reported by a weather spotter in the southern part of the city of Lubbock (Lubbock County). As the storms matured they began to form a line and produced more inch size hail in the central Rolling Plains as well as severe wind gusts near Guthrie (King County). A few reports of damage were reported including downed power poles in Briscoe County and a demolished office trailer in Hockley County. No injuries were reported.
Late that same day after storms has moved through the Southern Texas Panhandle, severe non-thunderstorm winds were recorded near the city of Lesley (Hall County). Severe non-thunderstorm severe wind gusts are listed below from the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet:
65 mph at Lesley (Hall County) and 64 mph at Turkey (Hall 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 May 24, 2:09 PM CST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Lubbock TX 309 PM CDT Sun May 24 2020 .SHORT TERM... Sharpening trough axis extending from a low across eastern MT is swinging into West Texas this afternoon. This appears to be the first lobe in a doublet; the second of which will approach on Monday. Modest speed max west of the trough suggests further entrenchment of the system over the next day or so. We are seeing the initial Cu field develop along the dryline and suspect CI around to 21Z give or take. Forecast thinking has not changed much since mid-day--Please refer to previous update for details on today's situation. Convection should persist across the CWFA this evening exiting to the east by around midnight. A cold front is expected to move through most of the FA by sunrise Monday morning offering cooler temperatures for Monday (and reduced instability.) We may see storms fire along the frontal boundary during the morning perhaps hanging around during the day. An uncertainty lies with the potential that the front may get hung up across the southern Rolling Plains with a triple point forming in the vicinity. Outside this more favored area of convective development, We could see elevated storms fire across NM late afternoon and move through the area overnight. Much of the detail in tommorow's forecast will depend on how things play out today. If clouds hold in as expected, highs on Monday will be a fair bit cooler than the past couple of days some areas in the northwest struggling to exit the 60s. This should decrease instability and reduce the severe threat appreciably. At present, our southeastern counties look to have the best severe potential Monday afternoon while more general thunder should exist elsewhere. .LONG TERM... By tomorrow afternoon the upper level trough axis will be directly overhead. Cold pool aloft should be well established as should steep mid level lapse rates. At the surface late afternoon heating and mixing should help the environment continue to tap into the available instability. This combined with Bulk Shear values near 30 kts across the far SE Rolling Plains will result in a continued chance of severe thunderstorms with large hail and strong wind gusts in the southern Rolling Plains through the evening hours. PWs will continue to run well above normal so localized flooding will be a threat. In the wake of the cold front temperatures Tuesday will only reach the high 70s area wide. In the longer range little agreement has emerged amongst the guidance. Double omega block type pattern remains in place across the CONUS with one centered over the west coast and one over the east. The GFS keeps the low to our east, the ECMWF keeps it far east and the NAM now shows it stationary just outside out southeastern borders. With little consistency amongst the models and very little handle on how these types of patterns play out in mid-May we will continue to keep a slight mention of rain showers and thunderstorms in the forecast. The thinking is that the low is less likely to establish itself over the Metroplex and some recycled moisture around the upper low will continue over our CWA. If this is truly the case much of next week will be cool and showery. Although the threat of severe weather will be at a minimum it is still mid-May and a mention of thunder is warranted. && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && 26/28
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lubbock TX 1054 AM CDT Sun May 24 2020 TXZ021>044-251600- Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale-Floyd- Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King-Yoakum- Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall- 1054 AM CDT Sun May 24 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the South Plains, Rolling Plains and the far Southern Texas Panhandle. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Severe thunderstorm chances will develop area-wide this afternoon and continue through the evening. Hail to 2 inches diameter, wind gusts to 70 mph, and isolated tornadoes will be possible. Intense rain also may lead to localized flash flooding and also could cause renewed rises on area rivers and streams lasting through tonight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday. A few thunderstorms Monday may produce hail to near an inch diameter on Monday. Locally heavy rain also is expected Monday, and a risk for flooding will be possible in a few areas. River flows may remain elevated Monday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will likely be needed. Please relay any information about severe weather to the NWS while following local, state, and CDC guidelines.
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:10 UTC.
5 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A temporary office trailer was rolled a couple hundred feet and demolished from straight line winds.
A report from the public was received of quarter size hail four miles west of Wolfforth.
A severe thunderstorm developed across northern Lynn County. This thunderstorm produced severe hail northwest of New Home. Numerous reports were received of hail up to one inch from the city of O'Donnell to four miles west of Grassland. Hail up to one and a half inches in diameter was reported near Grassland. No damage was reported.
A severe thunderstorm moved across Lubbock County. This thunderstorm produced severe hail on the southern side of the city of Lubbock. Numerous reports were received of hail up to golf ball size across the southern portion of Lubbock. Hail up to one and a half inches in diameter was reported by a trained weather spotter. No damage was reported.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near White River Lake measured a severe wind gust of 62 mph.
A report from the public was received of power poles broken when a gust front went through the southern portions of the city of Silverton.
A report from the public was received of one inch hail in Jayton.
A report from the public was received of one inch hail three miles east of Graham.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Guthrie measured severe wind gusts from 1920 CST through 1925 CST. The peak wind gust measured was 66 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2020
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: 888981, 888982, 888983, 888984, 888986, 888988, 888991, 888993, 888994, 888996.