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Triple digit heat, followed by widespread rain Early August 2025 |
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Observed high temperatures on Friday, 8 August 2025. The data are courtesy of the National Weather Service (NWS) COOP Observers and the West Texas Mesonet (WTM). Additional highs measured during early August can be viewed at: August 5th, August 6th, August 7th, August 9th, August 10th and August 11th. |
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An upper level ridge, expanding out of the Desert Southwest, brought widespread heat to West Texas in early August 2025. The heat began building as early as Tuesday, August 5th, when the entire region experienced highs in the upper 90s and lower triple digits. The heat continued to intensify, peaking late week and early in the weekend, before easing, especially by the beginning of the following week. |
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| Lubbock's observed high temperatures from August 1st through 12th, 2025. The background color indicates the departure from normal, with blue being below average and orange being above average. A graphic for Childress can be VIEWED HERE. | |
| At its peak, highs from 100˚F to 108˚F were common on Friday and Saturday (8-9 August). Lubbock reached the triple digits 6 days in row, peaking at 105˚F on August 9th. This set a new daily record, breaking the previous mark of 103˚F, from 2011. The low that morning only dropped to 79˚F, which also set a daily record warm low, besting 78˚F from 1985. The 6-day stretch of 100+ degrees was the longest of 2025 for Lubbock, to this point, which has seen a summer punctuated by humid but relatively mild conditions. In total, through August 12th, Lubbock has recorded 13 triple digits days, which is near the long term average, but well below what has been experienced the past few years (28 days in 2024, 46 days in 2023 and 34 days in 2022). For a complete listing of the number of 100-degree days, by year, for Lubbock, CLICK HERE. | |
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| Small, but intense, thunderstorm affecting the north side of Lubbock on Monday evening (11 August 2025). | |
| Dry weather was the general rule through the stretch of triple digit heat, aside from a few isolated late-day thunderstorms across the western South Plains on August 5th, and spotty and light early-day showers on the 9th and 10th. The upper ridge finally started to weaken by late in the weekend, which allowed deeper monsoon moisture to bend into the region and an outflow-aided frontal zone to sink southward through the central and into the southern High Plains. The combination provided cooler weather and increased cloud cover and rainfall for the South Plains region. | |
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| Regional radar animation valid from 4:05 pm on Monday to 7:05 am on Tuesday (11-12 August 2025). A Lubbock WSR-88D radar animation, valid from 4:23 pm to 8:18 pm on Monday, can be VIEWED HERE. | |
| The cool-down was a gradual one, with most locations, outside of the southwest Texas Panhandle, still reaching the triple digits on Sunday afternoon (10 August). Unlike previous days, though, a large batch of thunderstorms over eastern New Mexico moved across the state line and brought widespread rain, along with welcome rain-cooled air, to the western South Plains Sunday evening. As the cooler air spread over the remainder of the Caprock and into the Rolling Plains, it instigated additional shower and thunderstorm development over much of the South Plains, southern Texas Panhandle and western Rolling Plains through late Sunday evening/night. Ahead of the main batch of activity, one small nearly stationary thunderstorm dropped a few inches or more of rain southeast of Silverton. A survey conducted the follow day found minimal flooding impacts to the rural farm and ranchland, but did discover an overturned center pivot and damaged pump hose. | |
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| Flipped center pivot irrigation approximately 5 miles southeast of Silverton. The picture was taken Monday afternoon (11 August 2025). A picture of the damaged pump house associated with this center pivot can be FOUND HERE. | |
| Cooler weather followed for the entire region on Monday (11 August), when highs "only" reached the upper 80s to middle 90s. Despite the "cool" temperatures, a passing upper level disturbance triggered scattered thunderstorms Monday afternoon and a loosely organized complex of thunderstorms Monday evening/night. The afternoon activity was spotty, but intense, and produced short-lived pockets of hail, downburst wind and locally heavy rainfall. Hail around the size of golf balls fell near Levelland (see the picture below) with one storm, and the Lubbock Airport officially received a quick 0.56 inches of rain with another thunderstorm cell. In fact, an unofficial gauge located on the south side of the Lubbock Airport, less than a mile from the official gauge, measured an impressive 1.15 inches between 6 and 7 pm. | |
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| Large hail that fell near Levelland on Monday evening (11 August 2025). The picture is courtesy of Jacob Riley and one of his viewers. | |
| The late-night activity targeted the southern Texas Panhandle and northern and central Rolling Plains, where many spots saw around and over an inch of rain. Southern parts of Childress County into much of Cottle County experienced the heaviest rain, upwards of 2 to 4+ inches. A couple of WTM sites, including near Leslie and Dimmitt, also measured thunderstorm wind gusts in excess of 60 mph. | |
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| Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) 48-hr rainfall ending at 8 am on Tuesday (12 August 2025). 2-day rainfall, measured over this same stretch by the WTM and NWS, can be FOUND HERE. A close up of the Lubbock area can also be VIEWED HERE. | |
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Altogether, from Sunday evening through Monday night, nearly the entire region received at least a little rain, though amounts were far from uniformly distributed. While many locations received a half inch or more, much of the southern Rolling Plains, as well as the south-central and portions of the central South Plains, including the central and western parts of Lubbock, only had a couple tenths of an inch or less of rainfall. A list of the preliminary storm reports collected on August 11th can be found below. |
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Preliminary Local Storm Report...Summary
National Weather Service Lubbock TX
448 AM CDT Tue Aug 12 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0626 PM Tstm Wnd Gst 1 NNW Lubbock Int. Airp 33.67N 101.82W
08/11/2025 M59 MPH Lubbock TX ASOS
0604 PM Hail 3 WSW Levelland 33.56N 102.41W
08/11/2025 E1.50 Inch Hockley TX Public
Media viewer report.
1000 PM Tstm Wnd Gst 2 S Lesley 34.65N 100.81W
08/11/2025 M66 MPH Hall TX Mesonet
1010 PM Tstm Wnd Gst 2 S Lesley 34.65N 100.81W
08/11/2025 M71 MPH Hall TX Mesonet
1012 PM Tstm Wnd Gst 2 S Lesley 34.65N 100.81W
08/11/2025 M72 MPH Hall TX Mesonet
1145 PM Tstm Wnd Gst 3 N Hart 34.42N 102.11W
08/11/2025 M61 MPH Castro TX Mesonet
1145 PM Flood Dimmitt 34.55N 102.31W
08/11/2025 Castro TX Public
Report from mPING: River/Creek overflowing;
Cropland/Yard/Basement Flooding.
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