Texas, 2026

Hail in Texas, May 10, 2026

May 10, 2026 · NWS LUB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong short wave trough approaching the area on the afternoon of the tenth combined with a potent cold front to create severe convection. Strong instability above the frontal zone allowed for storms to become severe in the southern Rolling Plains.

Where it happened

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  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LUB wrote it up.

A strong short wave trough approaching the area on the afternoon of the tenth combined with a potent cold front to create severe convection. Strong instability above the frontal zone allowed for storms to become severe in the southern Rolling Plains. One storm produced up to two inch size hail as it moved over Lake Alan Henry (Garza County).

What forecasters said that day

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 10, 1:03 PM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • Updated at 1225 PM CDT Sun May 10 2026
  • Scattered-to-numerous thunderstorms are forecast to develop east of the I-27 corridor this early afternoon and last into the evening.
  • Some storms may be severe, with damaging winds and large hail the primary hazards with storms.
  • Fog is forecast to develop across portions of the Caprock during the predawn hours Monday, with dry and hotter weather Monday and beyond.
Area forecast discussion, May 10, 1:03 PM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED
National Weather Service Lubbock TX
203 PM CDT Sun May 10 2026

...New KEY MESSAGES, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM...

.KEY MESSAGES...
Updated at 1225 PM CDT Sun May 10 2026

 - Scattered-to-numerous thunderstorms are forecast to develop east
   of the I-27 corridor this early afternoon and last into the
   evening.

 - Some storms may be severe, with damaging winds and large hail the
   primary hazards with storms.

 - Fog is forecast to develop across portions of the Caprock during the
   predawn hours Monday, with dry and hotter weather Monday and beyond.

&&

.SHORT TERM...
(This afternoon through Monday)
Issued at 1225 PM CDT Sun May 10 2026

In the mid/upper-levels, a large-scale cyclone was rotating over the
James Bay, with a shortwave trough embedded within the belt of
cyclonic flow that was digging southeastward into the southern Great
Plains. Farther west, a subtropical ridge continues to amplify over
the Mojave Desert and will shift into the Desert Southwest by late
tonight. Moist, isentropic ascent persists over W TX, with mid-level
and highly elevated convection ongoing (in the form of virga) that
was advecting eastward within the right-entrance region of a 250 mb
jet streak analyzed near 50 kt as the base of the trough digs into
the southern Great Plains. A band of elevated showers was gradually
beginning to organize along the 700 mb cold front across eastern NM,
which will continue to move east throughout the remainder of the
afternoon as the vorticity lobe emerges over W TX.

At the surface, the synoptic cold front was drawn along a line from
HOB-LUV-JTN and into the TX Big Country, with blustery, northerly
winds between 20-30 mph following the front. CAA post-FROPA was
moderate, with temperatures falling 5-7 deg/3 hr per recent WTM
data. Strong, low-level convergence exists along the leading edge of
the front, evident by the saturation of the top of the post-frontal
airmass and return flow immediately south of the front where warm
theta-e advection is ongoing. The cold front will move south of the
CWA by mid-afternoon, resulting in a narrow, spatiotemporal window
for surface-based thunderstorms in the southern Rolling Plains while
elevated (non-surface-based) storms occur elsewhere to the east of
the I-27/HWY-87 corridors.

Scattered-to-numerous thunderstorms are forecast to develop east of
the I-27 corridor this early afternoon as the base of the trough and
the 700 mb cold front arrives. The bands and/or clusters of storms
accompanying the front will remain elevated, with an easterly storm
motion vector at around 40 kt. However, despite LFCs being rooted
above the statically stable, post-frontal airmass, moderate thermal
instability aloft, characterized by MUCAPE values near 2,000 J/kg,
and the enhanced gradient flow at the surface may warrant isolated
instances of severe-caliber gusts with the fast-moving cells. Hail
around quarter size will be the primary hazard otherwise.

Across the southern Rolling Plains, supercell wind profiles will
exist even to the north of the leading edge of the cold front, with
the potential for one or two right-moving supercells to develop and
propagate southeastward into the Permian Basin and the TX Big
Country. This potential will be short-lived, with right-moving
supercells posing a risk for severe-caliber winds and hail in excess
of 60 mph and up to two inches in diameter, respectively. Due to the
fast storm motions associated with the elevated bands/clusters of
convection, and the narrow window for semi-discrete propagation in
the southern Rolling Plains, the flash flooding risk for this
afternoon and evening is low. Storm chances will wane after sunset
as the base of the trough ejects southeast of the CWA.

Post-frontal winds will diminish after dark, with a weak surface
high settling into W TX during the nighttime hours. Cloud debris
will gradually erode tonight, and the combination of a clearing sky
and light winds within an already-moistened airmass will yield the
potential for the development of fog during the predawn hours
Monday, primarily on the Caprock. Fog has been added into the
forecast between 11/09-15Z for the Caprock, and some of the fog may
be dense, with visibility falling to one-quarter mile or less. Fog
that does develop will begin to mix out shortly after sunrise
Monday, as full insolation will occur as the surface high rotates
eastward into central N TX. Highs will rebound into the lower 80s
due to relatively shallow mixing of the boundary-layer, with winds
remaining light area-wide Monday.

Sincavage

&&

.LONG TERM...
(Monday night through next Saturday)
Issued at 1225 PM CDT Sun May 10 2026

Progressive flow over the 49th parallel will cause the large-scale
over the James Bay to transition into an open trough and eject into
the North Atlantic late Monday into Tuesday. This will allow the
subtropical ridge over the Desert Southwest to shift eastward into
the Great Plains by mid-week, with hot temperatures forecast Tuesday
and beyond as geopotential heights rise to near 590 dam. The ridge
is forecast to meander over the region through the end of the
upcoming week, and this should cause the dryline to maintain a
position within or near proximity to the Rolling Plains. Return flow
will be present area-wide for most of the week, with elevated fire
weather conditions forecast to return by Thursday as surface winds
strengthen in response to large-scale pressure falls across the
Great Plains due to a series of shortwave troughs emerging over the
central Rocky Mountains by the end of the week. Despite persistent
ridging, any sort of shortwave impulse or trough that translates
through a subtropical ridge this time of year bears watching,
especially with a dryline/surface trough being present in the
boundary-layer. That said, the official forecast remains dry with
this prognostication, but low storm chances may return mid-week.

Sincavage

&&

.AVIATION...
(18Z TAFS)
Issued at 1208 PM CDT Sun May 10 2026

MVFR conditions are expected to continue at LBB and PVW through
early evening. While CIGs will lift slightly overnight, there is a
potential for reduced VIS at PVW and LBB. There is uncertainty
with how low VIS will drop and has been kept VFR for the time
being. Convection will be possible at CDS through early evening.
As coverage will be scattered, VCTS will prevail. All sites are
expected to increase to VFR after 15Z Monday.

&&

.LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&

SHORT TERM...09
LONG TERM....09
AVIATION...51
Hazardous weather outlook, May 10, 11:17 AM CST, 4 hours 7 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Lubbock TX
1217 PM CDT Sun May 10 2026

TXZ021>044-111730-
Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale-Floyd-
Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King-Yoakum-
Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall-
1217 PM CDT Sun May 10 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 to numerous thunderstorms are forecast to develop east of
the I-27 corridor this early afternoon, with storm chances lasting
through sunset. A few storms may be severe, with the greatest
potential for severe storms along and south of a line from Tahoka to
Paducah. Damaging wind gusts in excess of 60 mph will be the primary
hazard with storms, and large hail up to golf ball size will also be
possible across the southern Rolling Plains. Locally heavy rainfall
will accompany storms, but the risk for flash flooding is low.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday.

Fog is forecast to develop across portions of the Caprock during the
predawn hours Monday. Some of the fog may be dense.

Elevated fire weather conditions may return Thursday and Friday
across the Caprock.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation may be needed.

The radar

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:24 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Garza

When
May 10, 3:24 PM CST
Where
Garza County, 8.85 mi ENE of Justiceburg
Measured
2 in hail
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
33.064, -101.053

Local broadcast media relayed a report of hail slightly larger than golf ball size at Lake Alan Henry. No damage was reported.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2026

Sources

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: 1323408.