A very deeply mixed boundary layer developed on the afternoon of the 17th ahead of a surface trough in eastern New Mexico. Minimal convective inhibition and a weak approaching short wave allowed for a few high based storms to develop.
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.
A very deeply mixed boundary layer developed on the afternoon of the 17th ahead of a surface trough in eastern New Mexico. Minimal convective inhibition and a weak approaching short wave allowed for a few high based storms to develop. Inverted-V sounding profiles allowed these storms to produce strong wind gusts at the surface. One storm produced a severe wind gust near Hart (Castro 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 Apr 17, 1:46 PM CST, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lubbock TX 246 PM CDT Mon Apr 17 2023 ...New SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, FIRE WEATHER... .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Tuesday) Issued at 245 PM CDT Mon Apr 17 2023 The weak shortwave ridge aloft is passing over the forecast area with the presence of mid-level moisture seen on satellite water vapor imagery. At the surface, a lee trough across eastern New Mexico is attempting to kick off some convection along the higher terrain. Meanwhile, breezy southerly surface winds are persisting this afternoon across West Texas with ample warming and temperatures in the 70s to lower 80s. Some low level moisture has advected into the area with near mid 30 dewpoints that may rise into the upper 30s over the next few hours. Overall, there is sufficient dry air at the surface with strong boundary layer mixing, inverted 'V' soundings and cloud bases near 10,000 feet. DCAPE values are near 1000-1500 J/kg this afternoon and with no capping inversion present there is a potential any shower or storm may produce a strong to severe wind gust. SBCAPE values are barely 500 J/kg with effective shear of 20- 25 knots, so any storm that develops with struggle to maintain itself. Visible satellite imagery this afternoon shows convection attempting to develop in eastern New Mexico along the higher terrain and thus storms will be a bit until they push east towards the South Plains. As storms continue to move east this evening across the Caprock, daytime heating will end near sunset and the capping inversion near the surface will return. This will quickly cause any storm that is currently ongoing to weaken. Tonight, clouds should clear from west to east with the diminishing storms. The surface trough will strengthen with a slight increase in the low level jet and breezy southwest surface winds persisting overnight tonight. Thus, temperatures will remain mild in the upper 40s to 50s across the forecast area. Tomorrow, southwesterly flow will return aloft ahead of the next approaching trough axis. Lee cyclogenesis will develop across eastern Colorado with a dryline pushing east across the Caprock and stalling off the Caprock during the afternoon hours. Only a few forecast models hint at the potential for some afternoon convection to develop along the dryline in the eastern Rolling Plains. However, instability is weak and once again storms will be very high-based so the main threat would likely be strong to damaging wind gusts. && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday night through next Sunday) Issued at 245 PM CDT Mon Apr 17 2023 The extended shows a trend of warm, dry and breezy through much of this week. A closed upper low will develop Wednesday across the Northern Plains with increasing southwesterly flow over the forecast area. This will help to develop lee cyclogenesis in southeast Colorado with breezy southwest winds expected through the afternoon hours Wednesday. Downsloping winds will help give way to afternoon temperatures in the 80s to even the lower 90s off the Caprock. A cold front will then pass through the area Wednesday night into Thursday and bring northerly surface winds with cooler temperatures in the upper 70s to lower 80s. Surface winds will attempt to briefly turn back to the southwest before another cold front passes through Thursday night into Friday. At the same time the upper low will begin to slide eastward and bring northwesterly winds aloft and dig the surface high south into the forecast area, which will bring cooler Canadian air into Texas. Thus temperatures will continue to cool into the 60s through the weekend as ridging builds into the western CONUS and the surface ridge keeps the cooler air mass overhead. Early next week shows promise to get warming temperatures to return. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1228 PM CDT Mon Apr 17 2023 Breezy south winds will continue to persist through the afternoon and evening hours with occasional gusts up to 25 to 30 knots possible. Scattered thunderstorms developing across the higher terrain of New Mexico will move eastward this evening. The potential for storms to persist as east as KPVW and KLBB remains low, so no mention was given in this issuance. However, if a storm were to make it to the TAF sites the main threat would be strong to severe wind gusts. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 245 PM CDT Mon Apr 17 2023 Critical fire weather concerns return tomorrow with dry, warm and breezy conditions. Minimum relative humidity values will return to the single digits west of the dryline, which will likely setup east of the Caprock escarpment. Southwest winds will be around 15 to 25 mph through much of the day and fuels continue to dry towards the 90th percentile. Much of the fire concerns tomorrow are relative humidity driven, but with even just breezy winds and dry fuels there is a concern. Thus, a Red Flag Warning has been issued for the Caprock tomorrow from 1 PM to 9 PM CDT. Additional critical concerns will persist on Wednesday, with single digit relative humidity values across the entire area and breezy southwest winds 20 to 30 mph. A Fire Watch has been issued for Wednesday across the Caprock, but may need to be extended farther east. Once again the main contributor will be the dry conditions, but with the breezy winds and dry fuels, critical fire weather conditions are highly likely. Elevated to critical fire weather concerns will continue through the end of the week, with north winds returning behind potential cold fronts Thursday and Friday. These fire weather concerns will continue to be monitored over the next few days as the winds are not quite as breezy or warm despite the continued very dry conditions. && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning from 1 PM to 9 PM CDT Tuesday for TXZ021>024- 027>030-033>036-039>042. Fire Weather Watch from Wednesday afternoon through Wednesday evening for TXZ021>024-027>030-033>036-039>042. && SHORT TERM...11 LONG TERM....11 AVIATION...11
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lubbock TX 306 PM CDT Mon Apr 17 2023 TXZ021>044-182015- Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale-Floyd- Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King-Yoakum- Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall- 306 PM CDT Mon Apr 17 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the South Plains, Rolling Plains, and the far Southern Texas Panhandle. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are possible late this afternoon and evening across the Caprock with the main threat being damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. A few strong to severe thunderstorms are possible Tuesday across the far eastern Rolling Plains and far southeast Texas Panhandle with the main threats being damaging winds and hail. Elevated to critical fire weather conditions are likely on Tuesday and Wednesday due to warm, dry, and breezy conditions. A Red Flag Warning has been issued for Tuesday from 1 PM to 9 PM CDT and a Fire Weather Watch for Noon to 9 PM CDT across the Caprock. Elevated to near critical fire weather conditions are possible on Thursday and Friday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:07 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Hart measured severe wind gusts from 1707 CST through 1735 CST. A peak wind gust of 60 mph was measured at 1735 CST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, April 2023
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: 1081900.