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Rounds of severe thunderstorms bring giant hail, torrential rain & tornadoes 24-26 April 2025 |
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Supercell thunderstorm and tornado northwest of Matador on Thursday evening (24 April 2025). The picture is courtesy of Daniel Shaw. |
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The daily rounds of severe weather, which started on April 22nd, took it up a notch on Thursday (24 April 2025). Richer low-level moisture, in tandem with a boundary that drifted into the area and provided enhanced easterly winds, added the ingredients that were lacking the previous couple of days and lead to a couple of tornadic thunderstorms Thursday evening. |
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| Infrared satellite loop valid from 3:56 pm to 9:56 pm on Thursday (24 April 2025). | |
| Similar to the previous two days, the dryline provided the focus for thunderstorm development Thursday afternoon. This day, the dryline was located near the Interstate 27/Highway 87 Corridor when storms first bubbled up. Once they became rooted and tapped the strong instability in place, they quickly became severe and started to rotate. These supercell thunderstorms then slowed down and tracked south-southeastward, producing giant hail, torrential rain and tornadoes as they did so. | |
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| Softball sized hail observed southeast of the community of South Plains on Thursday evening. The picture is courtesy of Adam Lucio via Facebook. | |
| The earliest intense storm of the evening produced its first tornado about 15 miles south of Silverton around 6:10 pm. This same storm dropped massive hail, as large as grapefruits, several miles northeast of the community of South Plains. In fact, one giant hailstone found 9 miles south-southwest of Flomot was measured to be 5.20 inches in diameter! | |
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| LBB WSR-88D radar animation valid from 2:56 pm to 9:57 pm on Thursday (24 April 2025). | |
| The thunderstorm went on to produce a couple more tornadoes, including one reported 9 miles southwest of Flomot at 7:15 pm, and a final brief tornado about 4 miles west of Roaring Springs at 8:02 pm. Not to be outdone, another supercell rapidly formed east of Lubbock and quickly turned severe, produced large hail, tornadoes and torrential rainfall. | |
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| Tornado (left) observed northeast of Lockney and giant hail (right) that fell northwest of Matador on Thursday evening (24 April 2025). The images are courtesy of Kyle Watson and Mitchell Lazarow, respectively. | |
| Several tornadoes were observed with this "new" storm, including a short-lived tornado 10 miles south of Ralls at 7:35 pm, a more substantial and long-lived tornado about 10 miles west of White River Lake a little after 8 pm, another brief tornado 11 miles south-southwest of White River Lake a little before 9 pm, and a final tornado 13 miles east-northeast of Post shortly before 10 pm. |
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| Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) 24-hour estimated hail swath (hail size in mm) ending at 7 am on 25 April 2025. | |
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Post-storm surveys were conducted on both tornadic storms the following day. Thankfully, both thunderstorms tracked over rural lands, with no tornado damage uncovered by either survey team (or reported back to the office by the public or county officials). That said, the remote location limited access, especially because the heavy rain made most unpaved roadways unpassable. |
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| Plot of the preliminary storm reports received by NWS Lubbock on Thursday (24 April 2025). | |
| In addition to the giant hail and tornadoes, the slow-moving storms dropped torrential rainfall along roughly the same path as the large hail. The West Texas Mesonet (WTM) and COOP observers within the reach of the thunderstorms measured rain totals of 1 to 3 inches, though in reality, there were likely pockets of rain near or in excess of 5 inches. | |
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| Tornado northwest of Matador (left) and west of Roaring Springs (right) on Thursday evening (24 April 2025). Both pictures are courtesy of Joshua Ostaszewski. | |
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In some cases, the heavy rain and hail wrapped around the rotating thunderstorms, making it difficult to spot tornadoes when they occurred (like the rain-wrapped tornado in the image above on the right). |
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| 12-hour MRMS rainfall ending at midnight Thursday night (24 April 2025). The 12-hour rainfall, as measured by the West Texas Mesonet (WTM), ending at 10 pm on Thursday, can be VIEWED HERE. | |
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The torrential rain did cause flash flooding, but some of the runoff also drained into White River Lake, raising the lake level about 1.5 feet, or 3% (from 16% to 19% of conservation level). |
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| White River Lake pool elevation (ft) ending on Friday morning (25 April 2025). | |
| The following day brought more of the same, with large hail, torrential rain and several tornadoes. The action this day started early Friday afternoon (25 April 2025) with the development of a thunderstorm over Baily County, where a couple of boundaries intersected. | |
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| Tornado, as viewed from south of Sudan, late Friday afternoon (25 April 2025). In the foreground is a mobile Doppler radar. The picture is courtesy of Chris Weiss. | |
| The Baily County storm quickly began to rotate and became severe. The cyclonically rotating supercell latched on to a northwest-to-southeast oriented outflow boundary and moved slowly southeastward along it roughly paralleling Highway 87. Air on the cooler (east) side of the boundary contained rich moisture and increasingly stout easterly winds which helped to enhance the low-level circulation within the storm. | |
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| "RCB-True Color" satellite loop valid from 12:36 pm to 5:56 pm on Friday (25 April 2025). An infrared satellite loop, valid from 1:06 pm on Friday to 4:26 am on Saturday (25-26 April) can be VIEWED HERE. | |
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The thunderstorm went on to produce its first tornado of the day just after 4 pm approximately 7 miles east-northeast of the Muleshoe Wildlife Refuge. Many chasers were following this storm and the tornado was well documented and quite picturesque. |
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| Tornado near Enochs late Friday afternoon (25 April 2025). The picture is courtesy of Sam Dienst. | |
| The severe storm proceeded southeast at a snail's pace, producing one more tornado (about 6 miles west-northwest of Littlefield), numerous reports of large hail and torrential rainfall through the remainder of Friday afternoon and into Friday evening. Thankfully, both tornadoes were over rural land and inflicted no known damage. | |
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| LBB WSR-88D radar animation valid from 1:43 pm to 8:55 pm on Friday (25 April 2025). | |
| Hail as large as 4 inches in diameter was observed in Littlefield around 5 pm, as the storm continued to creep southeastward. To make matters worse, the storm slowed further, stalling for a period over eastern Hockley County Friday evening. The storm continued to drop large hail and torrential rainfall over rural areas for much of Friday evening before finally loosing strength and lifting northward late in the evening. | |
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| Plot of the preliminary storm reports received by NWS Lubbock on Friday (25 April 2025). | |
| The WTM site located 6 miles south of Anton recorded an impressive 5.83 inches of rainfall over 24 hours ending Saturday morning, with most of that falling Friday evening. There was even talk of upwards of 9 inches of rain west of Shallowater, relayed from a farmer, though that could not be confirmed. | |
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| Large hail that fell north of Whitharral late Friday afternoon (25 April 2025). The picture is courtesy of the Hockley County Sherriff's Office via Facebook. | |
| The semi-persistent supercell thunderstorm did eventually dissipate, though not until around midnight over western Hale County. However, additional activity moved in from the west, while more widespread showers and thunderstorms filled in over the southern Texas Panhandle easterly Saturday morning (26 April). | |
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| Tornado near Sudan late Friday afternoon (25 April 2025). The picture is courtesy of Matthew Gaylor. | |
| One of these late-night storms became particularly intense as it moved from the northwestern South Plains into the south-central Texas Panhandle in the predawn hours of Saturday. This storm generated two reported tornadoes, one about 7 miles southwest of Hart at 2:35 am and another 4 miles west of Hart at 3 am. | |
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| LBB WSR-88D radar animation valid from 10:40 pm on Friday to 3:58 am on Saturday (25-26 April 2025). Another wider radar view, valid from 07:03 pm on Friday to 4:41 am on Saturday, can be VIEWED HERE. | |
| Thankfully, the late-night tornadoes occurred in open land and caused no known damage. However, they did make for an eerie sight for those out observing and chasing in the middle of the night, as can be seen in the below image. | |
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| Overnight tornado observed near Hart at 2:35 am early Saturday morning (26 April 2025). The picture is courtesy of the public via Jacob Riley. | |
| The overnight tornadic storm also produced copious amounts of hail. Although most of this hail was small, it did pile up on roadways and made travel difficult. This was compounded by thick hail fog that formed after the thunderstorm moved off to the northeast. | |
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| Accumulating hail and thick hail fog west of Springlake at 2:52 am early Saturday morning (26 April 2025). The picture is courtesy of Sam Gardner. A 24-hour hail swath, as estimated by the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS), ending at 6 am on Saturday can be FOUND HERE. | |
| Even after the most intense of the thunderstorms concluded, the night was far from done. Instead, widespread heavy rainfall tracked repeatedly over the southern Texas Panhandle through Saturday morning. The heavy rain resulted in significant flooding, concentrated over portions of the southeast Texas Panhandle. | |
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| LBB WSR-88D radar animation valid from 1:02 am to 10:18 am on Saturday (26 April 2025). An additional radar animation, valid from 10:34 am to 2:17 pm on Saturday, can be VIEWED HERE. | |
| Outside of the incredible rain over northeast Hockley County, associated with the stalled supercell, a large swath of 2 to 3+ inches of rain fell over northern Childress and much of Hall Counties, as can be seen below. | |
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| 24-hour MRMS rainfall ending at 9 am on Saturday (26 April 2025). | |
| The heavy rain caused the rivers and streams to flow with vigor, damaged some roads and drainages and flooded numerous roadways, causing significant road closures. Highway 287, between Estelline and Memphis, was closed much of the day Saturday as TXDOT cleared the road of mud and debris from flooding. Highway 256, from Memphis to Lakeview, was also closed for a period due to the flooding. The muddy roadways also contributed to at least one accident along Highway 86 northeast of Turkey. | |
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| Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River at Childress 10N stage (ft) in late April 2025. | |
| The excessive runoff caused the normally tame, and sometimes dry, Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River to flow like a major river, as is illustrated in the picture below. The river even briefly breached minor flood stage Saturday morning before receding. | |
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| Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River north of Estelline Saturday morning (26 April 2025). The picture is courtesy of Jana Tippett via Farrah Holcomb. | |
| Below are pictures of flooding and damage experienced in northern Hockley County, thanks primarily to the nearly stationary severe thunderstorm that camped over the area much of Friday evening. | |
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| Flooding and damage on FM 597 east of Highway 385 (north of Whitharral) near the Lamb County line on Friday evening (26 April 2025). The pictures are courtesy of the Hockley County Sherriff's Office via Facebook. | |
| Additional pictures of flooding near Anton can be found below. | |
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| Pictures of flooding near Anton Saturday morning (26 April 2025). The images are courtesy of Cole Kirkland. | |
| A list of the preliminary storm reports collected on April 24th through 26th can be found below. | |
Preliminary Local Storm Report...Summary...Corrected
National Weather Service Lubbock TX
104 AM CDT Fri Apr 25 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0550 PM Hail 7 S Silverton 34.37N 101.31W
04/24/2025 E1.25 Inch Briscoe TX Public
mPing.
0557 PM Hail 7 N South Plains 34.33N 101.31W
04/24/2025 E1.50 Inch Briscoe TX Public
Report from mPING: Ping Pong Ball (1.50
in.).
0610 PM Tornado 15 S Silverton 34.25N 101.30W
04/24/2025 Floyd TX Storm Chaser
Multiple reports confirmed via video feed.
0613 PM Hail Idalou 33.67N 101.69W
04/24/2025 E1.00 Inch Lubbock TX Public
Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).
0633 PM Hail 3 NE South Plains 34.26N 101.27W
04/24/2025 M2.50 Inch Floyd TX Trained Spotter
NSSL Report.
0700 PM Hail 10 ESE South Plains 34.15N 101.15W
04/24/2025 M4.50 Inch Floyd TX Public
Via X ...tape measured.
0702 PM Hail 7 ESE South Plains 34.19N 101.19W
04/24/2025 E4.00 Inch Floyd TX Public
0702 PM Hail 10 SE South Plains 34.15N 101.15W
04/24/2025 E4.00 Inch Floyd TX Public
Report from mPING: Grapefruit (4.00 in.).
0715 PM Tornado 9 SW Flomot 34.13N 101.08W
04/24/2025 Floyd TX Public
Multiple public and spotter reports.
0715 PM Hail 7 W Flomot 34.19N 101.10W
04/24/2025 E4.00 Inch Floyd TX Public
Report from mPING: Grapefruit (4.00 in.).
0727 PM Hail 9 SSW Flomot 34.11N 101.06W
04/24/2025 M5.20 Inch Floyd TX Public
Via X...measured with calipers. Exact
location estimated with radar.
0735 PM Tornado 10 S Ralls 33.53N 101.38W
04/24/2025 Crosby TX Law Enforcement
Short lived tornado. Crosby SO.
0744 PM Flood 1 NE Crosbyton 33.66N 101.23W
04/24/2025 Crosby TX Public
Report from mPING: River/Creek overflowing;
Cropland/Yard/Basement Flooding.
0801 PM Hail Matador 34.01N 100.82W
04/24/2025 M5.00 Inch Motley TX Public
0802 PM Tornado 4 W Roaring Springs 33.90N 100.93W
04/24/2025 Motley TX Law Enforcement
Brief tornado observed.
0802 PM Hail 8 S Ralls 33.56N 101.38W
04/24/2025 M2.50 Inch Crosby TX Public
Multiple reports.
0810 PM Flood 1 S Matador 34.01N 100.82W
04/24/2025 Motley TX Public
Report from mPING: River/Creek overflowing;
Cropland/Yard/Basement Flooding.
0815 PM Tornado 10 W White River Lake 33.47N 101.27W
04/24/2025 Crosby TX Storm Chaser
Potentially as wide as 1/4 mile at greatest
intensity.
0850 PM Tornado 11 SSW White River Lake 33.33N 101.14W
04/24/2025 Garza TX Public
Brief touchdown occurred.
0922 PM Tornado 12 NE Post 33.31N 101.23W
04/24/2025 Garza TX Storm Chaser
0924 PM Flash Flood 1 N Crosbyton 33.66N 101.24W
04/24/2025 Crosby TX Public
Report from mPING: Street/road flooding;
Street/road closed; Vehicles stranded.
0951 PM Tornado 13 ENE Post 33.26N 101.17W
04/24/2025 Garza TX CO-OP Observer
1048 PM Flash Flood Floydada 33.99N 101.34W
04/24/2025 Floyd TX Public
Report from mPING: Street/road flooding;
Street/road closed; Vehicles stranded.
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