Ice Storm — Crosby, Texas

2015-11-27 to 2015-11-28 · Crosby, Texas

Wider weather episode

Following a sharp cold front which ignited a few strong thunderstorms during the late afternoon hours on Thanksgiving Day, brisk northerly winds and freezing temperatures overspread the region and remained in place for nearly 48 hours. Atop this shallow layer of cold air, anomalously moist air from the Gulf of Mexico combined with a strong subtropical upper jet to produce periodic rounds of mostly freezing rain from Thanksgiving night through the morning hours on the 28th. A few periods of sleet and even very light snow accompanied this multi-day storm; however, all significant impacts were the direct result of icing from freezing rain. As the brunt of the freezing rain fell on the 27th, many dubbed this as the Black Friday ice storm. With the exception of the western South Plains and parts of the southern Rolling Plains, most locations received ice amounts of around 0.25. A pronounced swath of 0.50 to nearly 1 fell from just east of Crosbyton, northeast to Matador, Paducah, and Childress. The core of this heavy icing was the result of elevated thunderstorms during the evening on the 27th that trained across the northern Rolling Plains for nearly two hours. Thousands of people in Motley, Dickens, Cottle, and Childress Counties were without power for up to three days as power lines suffered extensive damage spanning long distances. Additionally, vehicle accidents peaked by Friday night as road temperatures finally cooled to the freezing point. In Lubbock, some overpasses were closed periodically through the night due to recurring accidents. From about 1920 CST until 2300 CST, Lubbock DPS was unable to keep pace with the rate of vehicle accidents, some of which involved minor injuries. Fortunately, Lubbock International Airport reported very few delays and no cancellations that were directly attributable to the storm. This multi-day storm dealt a heavy economic blow to the city of Lubbock in the form of lost business revenue (estimated as high as $5M) as thousands of holiday shoppers wisely chose to stay home on Friday and Saturday instead of travel in such hazardous weather conditions. Dozens of weekend school athletic games and functions were either rescheduled or cancelled. Regional utility providers reported a combined loss of just over 90 utility poles with around 100 miles worth of damaged power lines - much of which occurred in Motley, Cottle, Childress, and Dickens Counties. Combined with property damage from fallen limbs and trees (many that still had leaves) and scores of vehicle accidents, total damages throughout the region could approach several million USD.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 603565. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.