Following severe weather the previous afternoon of the 23rd, another batch of thunderstorms originating from the higher terrain of eastern New Mexico swept through the region. This complex of thunderstorms moved much more quickly than the previous evening's storms, though additional slow-moving storms also formed along a weak frontal zone over the central South Plains late Tuesday afternoon…
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
Following severe weather the previous afternoon of the 23rd, another batch of thunderstorms originating from the higher terrain of eastern New Mexico swept through the region. This complex of thunderstorms moved much more quickly than the previous evening's storms, though additional slow-moving storms also formed along a weak frontal zone over the central South Plains late Tuesday afternoon which brought torrential rainfall to a portion of the South Plains. The thunderstorms that formed above the quasi-stationary frontal zone were able to concentrate the spin along the front, which resulted in the development of several landspout type tornadoes. At one point as many as three landspouts were observed at the same time near the community of Meadow (Terry County). The landspouts moved very little, dissipated relatively quickly, and inflicted no known damage. In contrast to the limited and short-lived landspouts, the bulging cluster of storms generated widespread severe wind gusts across the central and southern South Plains. Severe wind gusts developed in the southern South Plains underneath stratiform precipitation well behind the main convective line.
High wind gusts from stratiform precipitation were measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet shown below:
69 mph at Graham (Garza County),|67 mph at Post (Garza County), and|60 mph at O'Donnell (Lynn 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, 1:27 PM CST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lubbock TX 227 PM CDT Tue May 24 2022 .SHORT TERM... No change for today's forecast from the Mesoscale Update issued at noon. Later tonight, shower and thunderstorm coverage is expected to diminish and/or move E-NE out of our area by midnight. Cooler air filling in behind the upper level low over the Panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma will drop overnight lows area wide, into the mid-40s. Northerly winds tomorrow afternoon will keep temperatures in the low to mid 70s, even as heights and thickness' increase from the building ridge to our west. Breezy early afternoon winds will begin to ease as the ridge expands eastward, setting up a very pleasant Spring day and evening tomorrow. .LONG TERM... A largely uneventful pattern returns later this week accompanied by a return to triple digit heat for much of the region. This is thanks to an upper low lumbering its way out of the southern Great Plains Wednesday night ahead of upper ridging with strong height rises and toasty thicknesses for the weekend. Although PWATs during this time will be around 1/2" (close to normal for late May), background support for ascent will be too poor for any further rain chances. As the upper ridge flattens on Friday while shifting downstream of the region, deeper W-SW flow will open the oven door and result in widespread triple digit highs this weekend which linger into early next week. Can't argue much with the NBM and MOS which favor the hottest highs by Sunday when portions of Stonewall County may hit 110 degrees, although this should still be too isolated and brief for heat advisory considerations. Not until just beyond the scope of this forecast (next Tue/Wed) does the pattern begin to trend a bit more interesting as models favor weak cyclonic SW flow ahead of a deep low in the Great Basin. && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && 55/93
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lubbock TX 1206 PM CDT Tue May 24 2022 TXZ021>044-251715- Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale-Floyd- Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King-Yoakum- Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall- 1206 PM CDT Tue May 24 2022 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the South Plains, Rolling Plains, and the far Southern Texas Panhandle. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. Thunderstorms, some severe, are expected to form across the South Plains and Rolling Plains early this afternoon and persist into the evening hours. Initially, the primary threat will be hail up to the size of quarters and wind gusts to 70 mph however a tornado cannot be completely ruled out. As we go through the evening the threat will transition to mostly a wind threat. Locally heavy rainfall will also be possible with the strongest storms and could pose a localized flooding risk. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday. There is a low probability for widespread hazardous weather. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will likely be needed.
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 129 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:12 UTC.
8 thunderstorm wind, 3 strong wind, 2 high wind, 1 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Denver City measured severe wind gusts from 1511 CST through 1512 CST. A peak wind gust of 69 mph was measured at 1511 CST.
LANDSPOUT. Location: 33.343/-102.211. Law enforcement in Terry County reported three simultaneous landspout tornadoes.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Denver City measured severe wind gusts from 1553 CST through 1554 CST. A peak wind gust of 60 mph was measured at 1553 CST.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Sundown measured severe wind gusts from 1557 CST through 1622 CST. A peak wind gust of 78 mph was measured at 1602 CST.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Morton measured severe wind gusts from 1600 CST through 1602 CST. A peak wind gust of 67 mph was measured at 1601 CST.
An off duty NWS employee measured quarter size hail south of Wolfforth.
LANDSPOUT. Location: 33.411/-101.935. Texas Department of Public Safety reported a landspout tornado near Slide.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Levelland measured a wind gust of 65 mph.
Law enforcement in Terry County reported a roof was blown off a house and a basketball backboard ripped out of a concrete pad west of Meadow. A short time earlier, a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Sundown measured a wind gust to 78 mph.
LANDSPOUT. Location: 33.565/-101.344. A trained spotter reported a brief landspout tornado southwest of Crosbyton.
As a surface boundary was moving through Lubbock County, thunderstorms developed along this boundary in the southern portion of the County. These thunderstorms caused the boundary to stall out and allow thunderstorms to train over southern Lubbock County. Rain gages near Woodrow measured as much as four inches of rain within a two hour period.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Wolfforth measured severe wind gusts from 1651 CST through 1700 CST. A peak wind gust of 68 mph was measured at 1652 CST.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near White River Lake measured severe wind gusts from 1722 CST through 1723 CST. A peak wind gust of 62 mph was measured at 1722 CST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2022
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: 1018729, 1018884, 1018730, 1018732, 1018731, 1018733, 1018885, 1018735, 1018734, 1018886, 1018881, 1018738, 1018739, 1018740, 1018741.