Flash Flood — Lubbock, Texas

2016-06-01 · near Carlisle, Lubbock, Texas

Event narrative

Law enforcement reported significant flooding of streets and roads in west and southwest Lubbock - many of which had swiftly flowing water of a foot or more over them. Several playa lakes overflowed their banks and inundated homes, vehicles, and businesses. No injuries were reported, however some motorists required rescuing from water depths as great as five feet deep. Some streets and roads were closed for 18 hours due to standing water.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.6032, -101.9717)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 627181. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.