Heavy rain targets the southern Texas Panhandle and northern South Plains (10 October 2025)

Heavy rain targets the southern Texas Panhandle & northern South Plains 10 October 2025

Rain skirting the north side of Lubbock early Wednesday afternoon (8 October 2025). 

Wednesday, October 8th, brought an unexpected bout of moderate to heavy rain to portions of West Texas. Specifically, a couple of slow-moving complexes of rain and embedded thunderstorms tracked out of eastern New Mexico and across the southern Texas Panhandle and adjacent northern South and Rolling Plains. The rounds of rain were aided by cool and moist air that followed a weak cold front the previous day, as well as a mid-level disturbance approaching from the west. 

Together, the small clusters brought widespread moderate to heavy rain for much of the southern Texas Panhandle and northern South Plains, with lighter amounts farther south, north and east from there. Rain totals of 0.75 to 1.50+ inches were common from around Friona and Muleshoe through Tulia and Plainview, to near Northfield and much of central and southern Hall County. The heaviest rain fell in and around Caprock Canyons State Park and Turkey, where nearly 2 inches was measured. Lubbock didn't fare as well, but still generally saw anywhere from a couple hundredths to a couple tenths of an inch of rain. The far northeast corner of Lubbock did a bit better, receiving about four tenths of an inch, while the Lubbock Airport officially checked in with 0.15 inches.

Where the rain fell, temperatures stayed cool, only warming into the upper 60s and lower 70s for much of the southern Texas Panhandle and northern South and Rolling Plains. Where the rain and thicker cloud cover avoided, the southern South and Rolling Plains warmed into the upper 70s to middle 80s. 

Interestingly, the rain cooled air, followed by light winds and mostly clear skies, led to the development of pockets of fog Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The most widespread and dense fog was concentrated over lower elevations of the southeast Texas Panhandle and northern Rolling Plains. The fog was most concentrated across the valley of the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River, with additional fog favoring the Pease River Valley, as the above satellite loop illustrates.