Following a day of widespread high winds, the 15th brought another quick-moving but powerful storm system through the southern Rockies. Winds on the 15th didn't increase in earnest until the afternoon but then persisted well into the evening.
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 a day of widespread high winds, the 15th brought another quick-moving but powerful storm system through the southern Rockies. Winds on the 15th didn't increase in earnest until the afternoon but then persisted well into the evening. The strongest winds targeted spots on the Caprock and especially the southwest Texas Panhandle and northern and western South Plains. The most intense winds weren't as widespread or strong as the previous day, but eclipsed the 60 mph mark in a few locations. The wind also lofted areas of blowing dust though the worst of the dust was more limited in coverage than the previous day.
Maximum wind gusts from the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet are listed below:
63 mph at Amherst (Lamb County),|61 mph at Friona (Parmer County),|60 mph at Hart (Castro County),|59 mph at Abernathy (Hale County),|58 mph at Denver City (Yoakum 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 Feb 15, 11:22 AM CST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lubbock TX 1122 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023 ...New AVIATION... .UPDATE... Issued at 1024 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023 A High Wind Warning has been issued for the central and southern South Plains, and will be in effect through 00Z/6 PM CST this evening. Issuance of the High Wind Warning therefore replaces the ongoing Wind Advisory. Recent water vapor imagery depicts an intense 500 mb jet streak translating around the base of a trough positioned over southern Arizona, with mid- and high-level flow oriented orthogonal to the Davis Mountains. This has resulted in the genesis of mountain waves that were propagating northeastward towards the CWA. As the 500 mb jet streak (near 110 kt) noses into the region, the deep, vertical mixing heights combined with the orographically-induced rotors is expected to enhance downward momentum transport. This will result in a narrow swath of wind gusts near 60 mph occurring across the aforementioned areas this afternoon, therefore facilitating the upgrade to a High Wind Warning. Sincavage && .SHORT TERM... (Today and tonight) Issued at 209 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023 The next upper low that will result in winds across the South Plains area is spinning over the Four Corners region, the center of the 500 mb circulation being centered just north of the Grand Canyon. This low will move to the far western Oklahoma Panhandle and the southeastern corner of Colorado around 00Z this evening and then to northeastern Kansas by sunrise Thursday. Increasing mid-level height gradient points to the upcoming wind increase with the magnitude of the 700 mb height gradient suggesting a solid wind advisory day for most of the forecast area. Favorable mixing of the 55-65 kt mid- level jet streak to the surface suggests some high wind gusts (i.e., >58 mph) will be possible. However, this mid-level streak is progged to be quite narrow as it crosses the forecast area, which would tend to narrow the window in both time and space for said high wind gusts. Meanwhile, a cold front is moving southward through the Oklahoma Panhandle early this morning, generally in line with the HRRR, the model which is most aggressive in moving this cold front to near a Tulia to Guthrie line by noon. The deep mixing associated with the eastward moving mid/upper low should eventually scour out the cool air to the north of the front, but it does put into question whether the eastern column of counties in the inherited Wind Advisory will make criteria. By the same token, the discussion of the potential for high wind associated with mid-level jet streak above led to the consideration of upgrading mainly the southwestern quadrant of the forecast area to a High Wind Warning. In both cases, confidence is just not quite enough to force any change to the current structure of the advisory. The Canadian cold front that makes a brief appearance across the northeastern forecast area this morning will make a much more pronounced return this evening behind the ejecting upper low. Much colder air behind it combined with breezy to windy conditions will make for a raw end to the night with wind chill values possibly dropping below zero late tonight across the northwestern quadrant of the forecast area, although likely remaining above advisory criteria. && .LONG TERM... (Thursday through Tuesday) Issued at 209 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023 Cold air advection will be in full swing early Thursday morning ahead of high pressure slated to arrive Thursday night. Raw north winds early Thursday morning still look to push wind chills close to our advisory levels (-5F) over a few of our NW zones. Despite full sun, highs Thursday will struggle to break out of the 30s northwest and 40s elsewhere. Even colder lows await Thursday night as the surface high settles atop the region, but progressive ridging on Friday will shove this chilly high toward E TX while bringing milder SW breezes to the South Plains. This weekend is looking stellar under dry and uneventful SW flow behind Friday's upper ridge. Milder thicknesses each day along with breezy downslope flow look to push highs 10-15 degrees above normal, with potentially greater gains by Monday provided a cold front stalls short of the region. This front is tied to a broad upper trough eventually occupying the northern CONUS by early next week. However, the details of this upper trough, its associated cold front(s), and a cut-off low approaching the Baja are too murky this many days out to justify any meaningful changes to the NBM output. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1122 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023 Surface winds continue to veer at KLBB and KPVW, and will quickly accelerate within the next 1-2 hours with an expectation of wind gusts approaching 50 kt. BLDU will increase in tandem with the high winds, and VSBY reductions to at least MVFR (possibly IFR) for a few hours will occur this afternoon. Winds will gradually taper off this evening while continuing to veer to the north following the passage of a cold front, remaining blustery overnight. At KCDS, winds remain out of the east-northeast where the stalled front is currently located; however, winds are expected to veer to the southwest this afternoon and remain gusty thereafter for the remainder of the TAF period. VFR prevails upon cessation of the high wind event today. Sincavage && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 319 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023 Solidly windy again today, although winds are not expected to be as strong as yesterday. Yesterday will have dried fine fuels from the limited moisture they received from the previous night's rains. Still, ERC values are running just over the 50th percentile while RFTI values of 3 to 4 areawide are only made up of the wind component for all areas but the southern Rolling Plains where RH does make a contribution. An argument could be made for a Red Flag Warning, but given recent history with a lack of wind events in recent weeks, will lean toward a fire danger statement this morning. && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 6 PM CST this evening for TXZ021>025-027-031- 037-042-043. High Wind Warning until 6 PM CST this evening for TXZ028>030- 033>036-039>041. && UPDATE...09 SHORT TERM...07 LONG TERM....93 AVIATION...09
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lubbock TX 1037 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023 TXZ021>044-161645- Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale-Floyd- Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King-Yoakum- Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall- 1037 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the South Plains, Rolling Plains, and the far Southern Texas Panhandle. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. A High Wind Warning is in effect for the central and southern South Plains through 6 PM CST this evening. A Wind Advisory remains in effect through 6 PM CST this evening for the extreme southern Texas Panhandle and the western Rolling Plains. Sustained southwesterly winds between 25 to 35 mph are expected this afternoon with gusts up to 60 mph occurring across the central and southern South Plains where a High Wind Warning is in effect. Wind gusts up to 55 mph are expected across the extreme southern Texas Panhandle and the western Rolling Plains where a Wind Advisory is in effect. Blowing dust may temporarily cause reductions in visibility. These strong winds will also lead to elevated fire weather concerns across the entire region through early this evening. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. There is a low probability for widespread hazardous weather.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gust enhanced by nearby virga.
Wind gust enhanced by nearby virga.
Wind gust enhanced by nearby virga.
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, February 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: 1070559, 1070558, 1070557, 1070556, 1070555.