Storms bring large hail to the South Plains, including Lubbock (23 June 2023)

Storms bring large hail to the South Plains, including Lubbock 23 June 2023

Supercell thunderstorm near Lubbock Friday evening (23 June 2023). The picture is courtesy of Billy Faletti.

Strong daytime heating and good moisture levels proved sufficient for scattered thunderstorm development up and down much of the High Plains Friday afternoon and evening (23 June 2023). In addition, a storm system emerging from the northern Rockies provided moderate to strong vertical wind shear over this same corridor, which promoted storm organization.


GEOCOLOR Composite satellite loop valid from 5:51 to 7:46 pm on Friday (23 June 2023).

Where the wind shear was most favorable, several thunderstorms produced tornadoes in Wyoming, western Nebraska, southeast Colorado, southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Farther south, West Texas didn't see any tornadoes on this day, but several of the thunderstorms did gain strong mid-level rotation. These supercell thunderstorms generated very large hail and torrential downpours as they tracked eastward through the evening hours.


Large hail that fell in Wolfforth Friday evening (23 June). The picture is courtesy of Evie Mae's BBQ.

One storm took aim at the south side of Lubbock, throwing out golf ball to baseball size hail, even larger in spots, like shown above. A grapefruit size hailstone was reported at 98th Street and Upland Avenue in southwest Lubbock, similar to what fell in Wolfforth (above). The giant stones were widely spaced, but inflicted plenty of property damage where they impacted objects like cars and buildings.


24-hour Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) maximum estimated hail size ending at 7 am on 24 June 2023. A zoomed out view covering the entire South Plains region can be FOUND HERE. A MRMS radar animation, valid from 4 pm to 7:30 pm on June 23rd, can be VIEWED HERE.

The above graphic shows approximately where the largest hail fell across the southern portions of Lubbock City and County, as inferred from radar (and other sources). Additional large hail likely fell over portions of the southwest Texas Panhandle and northwest South Plains, where a few other robust storms tracked, though ground truth reports outside of Lubbock were difficult to find.


Thunderstorm approaching (left) and moving away from (right) the NWS Office located on the south side of Lubbock Friday evening (23 June 2023).

In addition to the large to giant hail, several swaths of heavy rain accompanied the thunderstorms. The Lubbock Airport largely missed out on the rain (and hail), only recording 0.01" of rain. However, spots from around Dimmitt to Hart to west of Plainview saw rain totals of 1/2" to over 1", while portions of eastern Dickens and western King Counties saw 1-2+ inches, including in Guthrie. Preliminary storm reports for this active evening can be found below:

WFO Lubbock's Storm Reports collected on June 23rd, 2023

Preliminary Local Storm Report...Summary
National Weather Service Lubbock TX
446 AM CDT Sat Jun 24 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0600 PM     Hail             1 E Smyer               33.59N 102.15W
06/23/2023  E1.00 inch       Hockley            TX   Trained Spotter

0607 PM     Hail             3 NE Wolfforth          33.54N 101.97W
06/23/2023  E1.25 inch       Lubbock            TX   Public

0615 PM     Hail             4 NE Wolfforth          33.55N 101.96W
06/23/2023  E1.75 inch       Lubbock            TX   Local Official

0618 PM     Hail             2 E Wolfforth           33.51N 101.98W
06/23/2023  E2.75 inch       Lubbock            TX   Local Official

0625 PM     Hail             SE Lubbock              33.58N 101.88W
06/23/2023  E2.75 inch       Lubbock            TX   Trained Spotter

            93rd St and Quincy Ave

0626 PM     Hail             4 SSW Lubbock           33.53N 101.88W
06/23/2023  E2.75 inch       Lubbock            TX   NWS Office

            Hail shattering on impact

0626 PM     Hail             7 SW Lubbock            33.50N 101.96W
06/23/2023  E2.50 inch       Lubbock            TX   NWS Employee

            Near 103rd St and York Ave

0627 PM     Hail             9 SSW Lubbock           33.46N 101.94W
06/23/2023  E4.50 inch       Lubbock            TX   Local Official

            98th St and Upland Ave

0630 PM     Hail             7 SW Lubbock            33.50N 101.96W
06/23/2023  E3.00 inch       Lubbock            TX   Trained Spotter

            Near 73rd St and Milwaukee Ave

0631 PM     Hail             9 SSW Lubbock           33.46N 101.94W
06/23/2023  E1.75 inch       Lubbock            TX   NWS Employee

            Large volume of quarter size hail with a few golf balls
            mixed in. Size estimated. A secondary round of a quarter
            to golf ball size mix occurred approximately 10 minutes
            after the first round of hail ended.

0634 PM     Hail             4 NW Woodrow            33.49N 101.89W
06/23/2023  E1.75 inch       Lubbock            TX   NWS Employee

            122nd St and Knoxville Ave

0649 PM     Hail             1 N Woodrow             33.46N 101.84W
06/23/2023  E4.00 inch       Lubbock            TX   Trained Spotter

            FM 1585 and Highway 87

0711 PM     Hail             1 S Slaton              33.42N 101.64W
06/23/2023  E1.75 inch       Lubbock            TX   Public

0745 PM     Hail             2 SE Southland          33.34N 101.53W
06/23/2023  E1.75 inch       Garza              TX   Law Enforcement

0757 PM     Hail             4 W Plainview           34.19N 101.79W
06/23/2023  E1.00 inch       Hale               TX   Public

0905 PM     Hail             Jayton                  33.25N 100.57W
06/23/2023  E1.00 inch       Kent               TX   Co-Op Observer

1058 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 W Childress           34.43N 100.28W
06/23/2023  M59 mph          Childress          TX   ASOS

            Gust related to an outflow boundary far removed from
            storms.