NWS Lubbock, TX, July 9-11 Rain

Rain Visits West Texas
8-10 July 2012

3-day rain totals from Sunday morning through Wednesday morning (8-11 July 2012). Rain totals are courtesy of the West Texas Mesonet and the National Weather Service COOP observers. Click on the map for a larger view.

The combination of a weak (though rare) mid-summer cold front combined with several upper level disturbances and plentiful amounts of moisture to bring the region some rain over a 3-day stretch. Over the mid-July stretch most locations did receive precipitation, though the heavier rain was rather spotty. A swath of heavy rain fell from near Quitaque to Matador to Aspermont late on Sunday and early on Monday (8-9 July). There was then a relative lull in precipitation Monday afternoon and evening, but spotty heavy rain developed early Tuesday morning (10 July) and brought a few locations an inch or more. The focus for the most widespread and heavy rain then shifted across the southwest South Plains, from Plains to Brownfield, Tuesday afternoon, before tapering off Tuesday evening.

In addition to the rainfall, the clouds and moist upslope winds brought a brief cool down to the region. After highs reached from the middle 90s into the lower triple digits on Sunday (8 July), they dipped into the upper 70s and 80s by Tuesday (10 July). However, as the ground and atmosphere dried out again, temperatures quickly returned to seasonably hot levels, with highs mostly in the 90s returning by Thursday (12 July).