A dynamic weather setup led to scattered severe thunderstorms Friday evening and night (10.11.12). Impressive low-level moisture was in place, drawn in by a strong upper-level storm system traversing the Four Corners and Rockies. The atmosphere was relatively unstable with strong wind shear in place, some of the ingredients we look for when determining severe potential.
Clouds in place most of the day kept things quiet, but a few isolated showers and storms developed mid-afternoon. Once more substantial storms were able to develop before 6 p.m. near Shallowater things got active.
These storms moved to the northeast into Hale County then Floyd County. A tornado was reported by a Skywarn spotter at 7:08 p.m. five miles southeast of Hale Center, about 12 miles northwest of Petersburg. There were no reports of significant damage with this tornado, it was brief.
A little while later, 7:22 p.m., a trained spotter reported another tornado from this storm about eight miles west of Lockney, in Hale County.
While no significant tornado damage was reported, law enforcement relayed reports of car windows broken by hail at the Hale County rest stop on I-27. Hail reports reached as large as baseball-size, or 2.75" diameter, in Hale and Swisher Counties.
Click here - for a timeline of the tornado warning that was issued for Hale and Floyd counties.
In our southwestern counties storm spotters reported a rotating wall cloud and possible funnel in Lea County, just north of Lovington, near McDonald. Again, we haven't received any significant damage reports from this storm...which is always good news.
Here is a list of reports compiled by the NWS Lubbock office:
930 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0606 PM HAIL SHALLOWATER 33.69N 101.99W
10/12/2012 E1.00 INCH LUBBOCK TX BROADCAST MEDIA
0621 PM HAIL HALE CENTER 34.06N 101.84W
10/12/2012 E2.00 INCH HALE TX TRAINED SPOTTER
0621 PM TSTM WND GST HALE CENTER 34.06N 101.84W
10/12/2012 E65 MPH HALE TX TRAINED SPOTTER
0639 PM HAIL 6 N ABERNATHY 33.93N 101.85W
10/12/2012 M2.00 INCH HALE TX TRAINED SPOTTER
0648 PM HAIL 6 S HALE CENTER 33.98N 101.84W
10/12/2012 E2.75 INCH HALE TX TRAINED SPOTTER
CRACKED WINDSHIELD
0658 PM HAIL HALE CENTER 34.06N 101.84W
10/12/2012 E2.75 INCH HALE TX SKYWARN SPOTTER
0701 PM HAIL 4 N KRESS 34.42N 101.75W
10/12/2012 E1.75 INCH SWISHER TX BROADCAST MEDIA
0701 PM TSTM WND GST 4 N KRESS 34.42N 101.75W
10/12/2012 E70 MPH SWISHER TX BROADCAST MEDIA
0708 PM TORNADO 5 SE HALE CENTER 34.01N 101.78W
10/12/2012 HALE TX SKYWARN SPOTTER
0710 PM HAIL TULIA 34.54N 101.77W
10/12/2012 E1.75 INCH SWISHER TX POLICE DEPT
0722 PM TORNADO 8 W LOCKNEY 34.12N 101.58W
10/12/2012 HALE TX TRAINED SPOTTER
RELAYED BY NWS AMARILLO. SPOTTER REPORTED LOCATION NEAR
LOCKNEY. TORNADO LOCATED ESTIMATED
0740 PM HAIL 3 S HALE CENTER 34.02N 101.84W
10/12/2012 E2.75 INCH HALE TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
CAR WINDOWS BROKEN BY HAIL AT REST STOP ON I-27
