Thunderstorm Wind — Childress, Texas

2023-06-02 · near (cds)childress Arpt, Childress, Texas

Event narrative

At 1655 CST, the Automated Surface Observing System at Childress Municipal Airport measured a severe wind gust of 60 mph. Shortly after at 1709 CST, a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site two miles north-northeast of Childress measured a severe wind gust of 64 mph.

Wider weather episode

A strong short wave trough moving through New Mexico on the afternoon of the second provided a large amount of large scale lift to the region allowing for widespread thunderstorm activity. Very steep mid-level lapse rates, strong surface heating, and ample low level moisture created a very unstable atmosphere by early afternoon. Initial thunderstorm development early in the afternoon was unable to become severe but once discrete storms morphed into a mesoscale convective system, storms became severe with severe wind gusts across the South Plains and Rolling Plains.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.4300, -100.3000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1098050. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.