Very hot temperatures and convergence within a surface trough allowed scattered thunderstorms to develop late in the afternoon on the 25th. The hot temperatures allowed storms to be high based producing mostly severe wind gusts.
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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.
Very hot temperatures and convergence within a surface trough allowed scattered thunderstorms to develop late in the afternoon on the 25th. The hot temperatures allowed storms to be high based producing mostly severe wind gusts. One of the more robust updrafts produced quarter size hail in the city of Lubbock. The most impressive storm of the evening was one that tracked near Slaton (Lubbock County). This storm generated a microburst with a peak wind gust of 110 mph measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet. A storm survey the next day revealed very localized damage around the mesonet site northeast of Slaton. Cotton crops were destroyed and mesquite trees were stripped. Additionally, irrigation pivots were damaged and partially rolled. A heavy gate damaged the fence surrounding the mesonet site but no damage to the sensors occurred. Later in the evening, a line of thunderstorms developed on an outflow boundary moving into the northwestern South Plains. These thunderstorms continued to produce intermittent severe wind gusts as they tracked across the northern South Plains into the extreme southeastern Texas Panhandle.
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 Jun 25, 5:15 PM CST, 37 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lubbock TX 615 PM CDT Thu Jun 25 2026 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Issued at 608 PM CDT Thu Jun 25 2026 - Scattered thunderstorms (some severe) are expected over much of the region through this evening, with another round of storms likely on Friday afternoon and evening. - Unseasonably hot temperatures will continue through the weekend before a cooling trend begins next week. - Storm chances continue each day this weekend through at least next Tuesday. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Friday) Issued at 1247 PM CDT Thu Jun 25 2026 The large scale pattern early this afternoon is characterized by an upper level ridge spanning from Baja CA to the TX gulf coast, with our area still sandwiched between this and an active belt of zonal flow aloft to our north. The train of shortwave disturbances within this zonal flow will continue over the next 24-36 hours, extending our period of relatively active weather through Friday. The day has begun rather humid once again with dewpoints still in the 60s as of noon, but strong heating (temperatures near 100 this afternoon) and prevailing southwesterly winds will facilitate deep mixing with dewpoints likely falling into the 50s west of I-27 by late afternoon. There are two favored mechanisms for thunderstorm development today. First, initially isolated or widely scattered storms are likely to develop near or just west of the NM state line after 4 PM as forecast soundings indicate convective temperatures being reached in a generally uncapped environment. This activity will then shift eastward over the Caprock through early evening, potentially expanding in coverage as it does so. Our second mechanism for storm development will come farther to our north as progressive shortwave energy moves over a surface trough over the TX Panhandle. Current expectation is for this batch of storms to spread southeastward through the evening, with its outflow possibly enhancing ongoing storms farther south over the South Plains region. Although it appears likely that storms will develop, it is not certain how widespread they will be given the strength of the mid/upper level ridging to our south. Confidence in storms is highest over northern portions of the Caprock, northern Rolling Plains, and southern TX Panhandle with decreasing coverage of storms farther south. Given the well-mixed environment and relatively high cloud bases, the primary hazards with the strongest storms this evening will be damaging wind gusts potentially up to 80 mph and hail up to golf ball size. Storms are expected to decrease in intensity by midnight, but scattered showers and a few embedded weaker storms will likely continue overnight as a low level jet intensifies, especially off the Caprock. On Friday, a similar setup will bring additional chances for thunderstorms to much of the forecast area during the afternoon and evening hours, with some storms again possibly becoming severe. The favored location for storm development on Friday is uncertain, but the upper ridge will flatten and retreat a bit southward which could bring higher storm coverage to our southern zones compared to today. However, a drier near-surface environment may still end up keeping coverage relatively isolated. Temperatures will again peak near 100 degrees on Friday for most locations, with a bit cooler highs in the upper 90s over the southern TX Panhandle. && .LONG TERM... (Friday night through next Wednesday) Issued at 1247 PM CDT Thu Jun 25 2026 The center of the upper ridge will shift well to our east by Saturday and will build quickly over the MS Valley through the rest of the weekend, resulting in a transition to southwest flow aloft over West TX. Models remain in good agreement that mid and upper level moisture will remain in place overhead over the weekend and into early next week as a fetch of modified Pacific moisture is pulled northeastward. This will result in chances for isolated or scattered thunderstorms continuing each day from Saturday through at least Tuesday, especially over western portions of the Caprock in vicinity of a surface trough which will deepen daily near the NM state line. Forecast confidence in storm chances is low especially heading into next week due to uncertainties regarding specifics of any disturbances within the southwest flow that are currently unresolved. Regarding temperatures, triple digit highs still look likely to continue through the weekend, but a slight cooling trend is expected beginning next week with temperatures returning closer to seasonal averages. && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 608 PM CDT Thu Jun 25 2026 Low confidence thunderstorm forecast this evening. Weak storm will pass just SSE of KLBB at start of period so will kick off with a TEMPO there. Best chance of storms is likely at KCDS in the 04Z-07Z range as better coverage of storms develops mainly over the panhandle. Otherwise VFR with a southerly breeze at all TAF locations. Will have to update thunder chances based on radar trends otherwise but storm activity should end after 07Z or so. JW && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SHORT TERM...30 LONG TERM....30 AVIATION...13
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lubbock TX 1150 AM CDT Thu Jun 25 2026 TXZ021>044-261700- Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale-Floyd- Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King-Yoakum- Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall- 1150 AM CDT Thu Jun 25 2026 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the South Plains, Rolling Plains, and the far Southern Texas Panhandle. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. Scattered thunderstorms will develop over portions of the Caprock by late this afternoon, then spread eastward over most of the South Plains and southern Texas Panhandle this evening. Some of these storms will likely become severe and will be capable of producing damaging wind gusts up to 80 mph and hail up to the size of golf balls. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. Thunderstorm chances will continue most days through Tuesday, mainly during the afternoon and evening hours. High temperatures at or exceeding 105 degrees are possible off the Caprock on Saturday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be needed.
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:51 UTC.
7 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Levelland measured a severe gust of 65 mph.
Numerous reports were received of a swath of hail on the northwest side of the city of Lubbock. Hail ranged in size from penny to quarter size.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Friona measured severe wind gusts from 1801 CST through 1807 CST. A peak wind gust of 73 mph was measured at 1807 CST.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Slaton measured severe wind gusts from 2027 CST through 2034 CST. A peak wind gust of 110 mph was measured at 2027 CST. Near the mesonet station, cotton crops were destroyed along with stripped mesquite trees. Irrigation pivots were damaged and partially rolled. Additionally, a heavy gate damaged the surrounding fence of the mesonet site.
At 2030 CST, the Automated Weather Observing System at Hale County Municipal Airport measured a wind gust of 58 mph. Two minutes later at 2032 CST, a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Plainview measured a severe wind gust of 85 mph.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Memphis measured a severe wind gust of 60 mph.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site at Caprock Canyons State Park measured a wind gust of 58 mph.
A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Turkey measured a severe wind gust of 60 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, June 2026
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: 1341482, 1341483, 1341496, 1341515, 1341516, 1341517, 1341518, 1341519.