Tornado in Terry County, Texas

Late this morning, a motorist traveling northeast on US Highway 62 photographed a short-lived tornado to their west over open land. Radar features indicated the possibility of a tornadic storm in the area at this time which added credibility to the photo. The time and location are estimated from radar.

Northeast of a slow moving upper low near El Paso, a broad upper trough overspread the South Plains this day. Abundant moisture and very weak wind shear led to several lines and clusters of nearly stationary showers and storms with torrential rainfall. A nearly 90-mile long axis of heavy rain fell from the southwest side of Lubbock northwest to Littlefield (Lamb County), Muleshoe (Bailey County) and Farwell (Parmer County). Rainfall measurements of 2 to 4 inches were common in these areas. A retired NWS Lubbock employee in southwest Lubbock measured 5 inches and reported knee-deep water in his backyard. In addition to washing out large expanses of farmers' newly seeded fields, flooding stranded dozens of cars in southwest Lubbock alone. Many southwest Lubbock businesses, including the South Plains Mall, closed early for the day due to impassable streets and flooded parking lots. Several hundred homes suffered significant water damage to carpets and personal property. Additionally, funnel clouds accompanied a few of these slow moving storms. One motorist photographed a short-lived tornado north of Brownfield over open land around 1020 CST. Economic losses and property damage from the flooding would likely reach several million USD.