Tornado watch for parts of the region until 10 PM

Tornado watch for parts of the region until 10 PM

Posted: Updated:

LUBBOCK, Texas -

2:30 PM Update: A tornado watch has been issued for Briscoe, Cottle, Crosby, Dickens, Floyd, Garza, Hall, Kent, King, Motley, Stonewall, Borden and Scurry counties until 10 PM. The map below shows all the counties under the tornado watch highlighted in blue.

The main concern with storms this afternoon will be large hail, but some strong wind gusts as well as a few tornadoes will be possible. You can keep an eye on the developing storms with our radar live stream by clicking here or by looking at our Vipir radar image below.

A full update to the forecast will be posted soon. For now you can read the original blog post below.

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STORM REPORTS: We had scattered severe storms south and east of Lubbock yesterday afternoon and evening. Just outside of our viewing area there were tornadoes at Big Spring and to the northeast in Hall County, near Estelline and Memphis. Since the storms happened in the evening we don't have a lot of info on those tornadoes. I have seen reports of some homes damaged or destroyed near Big Spring, no reports at this point of anyone getting hurt.

There was also huge hail, golf ball to baseball-size hail just south and east of Lubbock in Lynn, Garza, Crosby and Floyd counties. Some windshields were broken, power lines downed and similar damage. These were major storms. Keep in mind a severe thunderstorm warning is issued for gusts of at least 58mph and hail 1" diameter. These storms were producing 70-80mph wind and hail to around 3".

These supercells also dropped a lot of rain. The Texas Tech Mesonet site near Memphis, in Hall County, measured 5.49". Here are other totals:

Northfield 1.62"
Post 0.98"
Turkey 0.64"
Ralls 0.54"
Gail 0.49"
White River Lake 0.45"
Spur 0.45"
Floydada 0.41"

THIS MORNING: It's mild and muggy once again, temperature in the upper 60s to low 70s. The dry line has backed into New Mexico, with the dew point in the 60s across our area.

TODAY: The dry line will probably mix a bit farther east than yesterday. That's the boundary between dry air west and humid air east. Along and east of the dry line is where storms should develop. Yesterday it was over the western South Plains...today it'll probably move to near I-27/US 87. If this happens then a storm could develop over Lubbock. If the dry line mixes farther east then only the Rolling Plains will see storms.

Here is the dew point map, which updates every few minutes. We'll watch for those 60-degree dew points this afternoon for storm development.

The Storm Prediction Center has highlighted roughly the eastern half of our area with the potential for very large hail. Cloud bases will probably be fairly high for tornado development, but we still can't rule out one or two tornadoes in the region, especially this evening over the Rolling Plains.

TOMORROW: It'll be muggy and mild in the morning again, possibly with some low clouds. By tomorrow afternoon the dry line will probably mix a little farther east, shifting that storm potential slightly farther east. Once again where storms develop very large hail is expected.

EXTENDED FORECAST: It'll be hot and sunny here for the second half of the week. We'll watch how deep an upper trough out west gets. If it trends deeper and farther west then it'll mean more humidity for our region...and a chance for storms. But at this point it looks like the humidity will be in place for big storms across Oklahoma and North Texas Thursday and Friday, our area dry. Some of the newest data shows Thursday may have storms in the Rolling Plains.

Humidity does return across more of our area by this weekend. Memorial Day weekend is usually our peak of severe weather season. There's a slight chance for storms Sunday and Monday.

Have a great day. Look for updates as needed through the day right here.
-Matt