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Another cold front brings wind, dust and fire weather |
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| Peak wind gusts through on Sunday (15 March 2026). The graphic and data are courtesy of the West Texas Mesonet (WTM). A closeup view of the South Plains region can be FOUND HERE. | |
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A cold front plunged through the South Plains region Sunday morning (15 March), carrying in much colder air on gust north winds. The front moved through the southern Texas Panhandle near daybreak, and cleared the southern South and Rolling Plains by midday. The post-frontal northerly winds gusted from 45 to 55+ mph, with several gusts in excess of 60 mph measured, primarily over the northeast half or so of the Texas Panhandle. |
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| "RGB-True Color" satellite animation valid from 5:09 pm to 5:32 pm on Sunday (15 March 2026). A zoomed in view of the Big Bend and Far West Texas, valid from 4:46 pm to 7:11 pm, can be VIEWED HERE. | |
| The intense winds lofted dust, which became widespread and thicker as the front plowed into the Permian Basin and Far West Texas through the afternoon hours. This led to the development of a haboob (wall of dust) that marched southwestward through Far West Texas and southeast New Mexico Sunday afternoon and evening. | |
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| Temperature at 11:25 am on Sunday (15 March 2026). The graphic and data are courtesy of the West Texas Mesonet (WTM). | |
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Ahead of the cold front, temperatures soared into the 80s and lower 90s. This heat, in combination with dry and breezy westerly to northwesterly winds, created elevated to critical fire weather. The overall fire danger eased as the cooler and relatively moister air moved in behind the front, despite the stronger wind. |
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| Relative humidity (RH) at 11:25 am on Sunday (15 March 2026). The graphic and data are courtesy of the West Texas Mesonet (WTM). | |
| The below graphs from Childress show the warmest temperatures, in the 60s, occurred ahead of the front before 10 am, then held relatively steady in the low to mid-50s through much of the afternoon, before plummeting in the evening and overnight. At the same time, winds peaked in the morning and early afternoon, but remained gusty through late afternoon and evening before finally diminishing after midnight. | |
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| Meteogram for the Childress WTM from Sunday into Monday (15-16 March 2026). The graphic and data are courtesy of the West Texas Mesonet (WTM). | |
| The impactful weather was not only confined to the region, but affected the entire center of the nation. Farther north, where colder air and moisture were in place, heavy snow and intense wind created a blizzard over the Upper Midwest into the western Great Lakes. Parts of Minnesota into Wisconsin received 1 to 2+ feet of snow to go along with winds gusting over 50 mph. | |
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| Watch/Warning/Advisory display for the entire United States at 11 am on Sunday (15 March 2026). | |
| The below map illustrates the tug of war between the building warmth across the southern United States and the advancing cold air across the north on this mid-March day. Temperatures ranged from the single digits in the northern High Plains to the 70s and 80s in Central and South Texas late Sunday morning. The impressive temperature differences provided the energy to fuel the widespread and impactful weather system. | |
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| Temperature observations across the entire United States at 11 am on Sunday (15 March 2026). | |
| After the winds subsided and the cold air settled into the region, temperatures bottomed out in the teens and lower to middle 20s Monday morning. Following the cold start, temperatures only rebounded into the 40s and lower 50s Monday afternoon. However, the chill didn't last very long, with highs jumping into the 70s on Tuesday, 80s on Wednesday and widespread 90s by Thursday. | |
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| Lows observed on Monday morning (16 March 2026). The data are courtesy of the West Texas Mesonet (WTM) and National Weather Service (NWS). | |
| Preliminary wind reports collected by WFO Lubbock for this event can be found below. |
Preliminary Local Storm Report...Summary
National Weather Service Lubbock TX
704 PM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0919 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 NE Memphis 34.74N 100.53W
03/15/2026 M59 MPH Hall TX Mesonet
West Texas Mesonet.
1000 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 7 W Lakeview 34.68N 100.81W
03/15/2026 M59 MPH Hall TX Mesonet
West Texas Mesonet.
1003 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 SW Muleshoe 34.21N 102.74W
03/15/2026 M62 MPH Bailey TX Mesonet
Corrected source. West Texas Mesonet.
1007 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 4 W Childress 34.43N 100.28W
03/15/2026 M61 MPH Childress TX ASOS
1031 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 ENE Tulia 34.55N 101.74W
03/15/2026 M59 MPH Swisher TX Mesonet
West Texas Mesonet.
1049 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 10 WSW Guthrie 33.57N 100.48W
03/15/2026 M58 MPH King TX Mesonet
West Texas Mesonet.
1053 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 NE Memphis 34.73N 100.53W
03/15/2026 M69 MPH Hall TX Mesonet
1055 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 NNW Lubbock Int. Airp 33.67N 101.82W
03/15/2026 M60 MPH Lubbock TX ASOS
1102 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 NNE Childress 34.46N 100.20W
03/15/2026 M67 MPH Childress TX Mesonet
1108 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 S Lesley 34.65N 100.81W
03/15/2026 M63 MPH Hall TX Mesonet
1119 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 7 ESE Silverton 34.45N 101.19W
03/15/2026 M58 MPH Briscoe TX Mesonet
West Texas Mesonet.
1129 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 S Caprock Canyons Sta 34.42N 101.07W
03/15/2026 M59 MPH Briscoe TX Mesonet
West Texas Mesonet.
1225 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 WSW Turkey 34.39N 100.93W
03/15/2026 M59 MPH Hall TX Mesonet
West Texas Mesonet.
1228 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 WSW Turkey 34.38N 100.93W
03/15/2026 M61 MPH Hall TX Mesonet
1253 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 4 W Childress 34.43N 100.28W
03/15/2026 M58 MPH Childress TX ASOS
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