During the morning and afternoon of the 22nd, very strong winds and blowing dust covered much of the region as a powerful upper level storm system raced across the central High Plains. Winds initially increased early in the morning behind a Pacific type cold front. Wind speeds quickly increased behind this front and lifted considerable amounts of dust into the atmosphere. The blowing dust reduced visibilities to less than one half mile at many locations. Strong winds and low visibilities caused a tractor trailer to blow over on Interstate 27 north of Abernathy. A secondary surge of strong winds entered the southeastern Texas panhandle by the middle of the afternoon. This secondary surge was generated by showers in the eastern Texas panhandle. These intense winds caused much damage across the South Plains, Rolling Plains and extreme southern Texas Panhandle. Damage reports mostly included downed utility poles and broken tree limbs. Some of the most extensive damage occurred in Floyd County where over 2500 acres of winter wheat were sand blasted. Additionally, a large tree was uprooted in Lubbock and fell on a vehicle, motorcycle and roof of a home. Winds quickly diminished during the late afternoon as the storm system moved east of the region.
A list of severe wind gusts measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet and Automated Surface Observing Systems follows:
70 mph at Tulia (Swisher County)...68 mph at Silverton (Briscoe County)...67 mph at Turkey (Hall County)...67 mph at Childress (Childress County)...65 mph at Amherst (Lamb County)...64 mph at Paducah (Cottle County)...62 mph at Quitaque (Briscoe County)...61 mph at Hart (Castro County)...61 mph at Olton (Lamb County)...60 mph at Dimmitt (Castro County)...60 mph at Floydada (Floyd County)...60 mph at Friona (Parmer County)...60 mph at Lubbock (Lubbock County)...60 mph at Muleshoe (Bailey County)...60 mph at Northfield (Motley County)...60 mph at Reese Center (Lubbock County)...59 mph at Abernathy (Hale County)...58 mph at Anton (Hockley County)...58 mph at Morton (Cochran County)...58 mph at Ralls (Crosby County)...58 mph at Roaring Springs (Motley County).
A list of maximum sustained severe winds measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet follows:
43 mph at Brownfield (Terry County)...43 mph at Plains (Yoakum County)...41 mph at Denver City (Yoakum County)...41 mph at O'Donnell (Lynn County)...41 mph at Graham (Garza County)...40 mph at Guthrie (King County).

High Wind in LUBBOCK, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 07:05:00 to 22-JAN-12 12:44:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

High Wind in CASTRO, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 09:55:00 to 22-JAN-12 14:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 53.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in BAILEY, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 09:25:00 to 22-JAN-12 12:30:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in BRISCOE, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 09:45:00 to 22-JAN-12 14:55:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 59.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in COCHRAN, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 10:45:00 to 22-JAN-12 13:10:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in LAMB, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 09:40:00 to 22-JAN-12 13:55:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 56.00 MG
Property damage: 15.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in SWISHER, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 09:40:00 to 22-JAN-12 14:10:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 61.00 MG
Property damage: 75.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in HALE, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 09:55:00 to 22-JAN-12 11:20:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 51.00 MG
Property damage: 15.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in HOCKLEY, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 11:20:00 to 22-JAN-12 12:15:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in FLOYD, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 10:27:00 to 22-JAN-12 14:35:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 200.00K
Crop damage: 500.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in PARMER, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 10:00:00 to 22-JAN-12 12:45:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in YOAKUM, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 10:15:00 to 22-JAN-12 13:30:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 37.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in HALL, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 10:28:00 to 22-JAN-12 14:45:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 58.00 MG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in COTTLE, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 14:30:00 to 22-JAN-12 15:25:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 56.00 MG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in TERRY, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 10:55:00 to 22-JAN-12 12:15:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 37.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in CHILDRESS, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 14:36:00 to 22-JAN-12 15:10:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 58.00 MG
Property damage: 15.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

High Wind in CROSBY, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 11:15:00 to 22-JAN-12 11:25:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in LYNN, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 11:15:00 to 22-JAN-12 12:50:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in KING, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 11:25:00 to 22-JAN-12 13:25:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in MOTLEY, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 14:10:00 to 22-JAN-12 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in GARZA, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 12:55:00 to 22-JAN-12 13:55:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Dust Storm in HALE, TEXAS
From 22-JAN-12 12:00:00 to 22-JAN-12 14:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement