Winter Weather — Lubbock, Texas

2014-12-30 to 2014-12-31 · Lubbock, Texas

Wider weather episode

Following an arctic front the night prior, widespread freezing drizzle developed early on the morning of the 31st throughout much of the region before mixing with and changing to very light snow. East of the Caprock Escarpment, the duration of freezing drizzle was limited to just a couple of hours compared to nearly 30 hours on the Caprock where the worst impacts were felt. With temperatures in the teens and 20s, many roads and streets developed a thin glaze of ice that later became coated with light snow up to one inch. Treacherous road conditions led to hundreds of vehicle accidents across the South Plains with some serious injuries noted northwest of Post (Garza County) and also near Muleshoe (Bailey County). Conditions at Lubbock Preston Smith Airport were so bad that the airport officially shut down at 2300 CST on the 30th before re-opening for limited flights by the afternoon of the 31st. Combined with the closure, dozens of canceled flights earlier in the day stranded some flyers at the airport for nearly 24 hours. The precipitation gradually dissipated in coverage by late afternoon on New Year's Eve, however temperatures remained well below freezing all day prolonging hazardous travel for holiday revelers - many of whom opted against traveling for festivities. Damage and economic losses from this event were not available at the time of this writing. Muleshoe (Bailey County) was the only location to receive greater than one inch of snow totaling 1.1 inches.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 549023. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.