Hail — Terry, Texas

2024-06-15 · near Wellman, Terry, Texas

Event narrative

Motorists traveling on US Highway 385/62 reported golf ball size hail between Wellman and Seagraves.

Wider weather episode

Deep atmospheric mixing within vicinity of a surface dryline near the Texas/New Mexico state line allowed a cumulus field to develop. Strong southeasterly low level flow brought ample moisture into the region providing sufficient instability for severe thunderstorms. Moderate deep layer shear allowed isolated thunderstorms to become organized and severe, producing severe wind gusts and large hail over the southwestern South Plains. Additional thunderstorms developed late on the 15th in eastern New Mexico and drifted into the South Plains in the early morning hours of the 16th. This activity dissipated into light rain showers as it moved into the central South Plains. However, the sub-cloud layer was extremely dry which led to the rain evaporating before reaching the ground and causing a widespread heat burst from Hockley County into Lubbock and Lynn Counties. Temperatures increased as much as 24 degrees in 20 minutes as well as bringing severe wind gusts.

High wind gusts from the heat burst measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet are listed below:

75 mph at Wolfforth (Lubbock County),

66 mph at Levelland (Hockley County), and

59 mph at Tahoka (Lynn County).

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.9988, -102.4910)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1174815. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.