Thunderstorm Wind in Cochran County, Texas

A Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site near Sundown measured a wind gust of 59 mph.

Two distinct rounds of convective development occurred on the afternoon and evening of the 23rd. The first occurred during the early afternoon across the extreme southeastern Texas Panhandle. This area of convection originated in southwestern Kansas into the Oklahoma and northern Texas Panhandles. A strong low level jet during the morning hours allowed this convection to blossom as it tracked southward through the eastern Texas Panhandle. A favorable environment existed out ahead of the storms during the early afternoon after the low level jet diminished. By the time the storms reached the extreme southeastern Texas Panhandle they produced large hail in Childress (Childress County) and several severe wind gusts. The second round of thunderstorms developed off of an outflow boundary produced by the early afternoon convection. A very unstable air mass was present south of the boundary which was also characterized by strong deep layer shear. This allowed updrafts to develop into supercell thunderstorms, of which many became splitting supercell storms. The most intense thunderstorms remained anchored to this pre-existing boundary. One supercell thunderstorm tracked southward over Hockley County and produced baseball size hail along with substantial wind damage between Sundown (Hockley County) and Texas Highway 114. Additionally, a number of wake lows developed which produced several high wind gusts.