A classic West Texas wind storm occurred on the afternoon of the 18th and lasted into the early morning hours of the 19th. A very tight but potent upper level short wave moved out of the Great Basin into the four corners and then into northern New Mexico on the 18th. This allowed extremely a strong belt of mid level winds to spread across the South Plains and southern Texas Panhandle. High winds were mostly observed in the western South Plains from about 1600 CST to 2000 CST. A secondary wind maximum developed across the central South Plains into the western Rolling Plains from about 2200 CST on the 18th to 0200 CST on the 19th. Wildfire activity was exacerbated by the lack of significant rainfall in several months. Several wildfires were reported throughout the day and evening hours but none destroyed any structures or grew to more than a few hundred acres before being contained.
High wind gusts below were observed by Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet sites:
69 mph at Earth (Lamb County), 61 mph at Aiken (Hale County), 61 mph at Spur (Dickens County), 60 mph at Olton (Lamb County) and Roaring Springs (Motley County), 59 mph at Slaton (Lubbock County), Abernathy (Hale County), Lubbock International Airport ASOS (Lubbock County), and Guthrie (King County), 58 mph at Friona (Parmer County), Hart (Castro County), Anton (Hockley County), Happy (Swisher County), Tulia (Swisher County), Vigo Park (Swisher County), Morton (Cochran County), and Ralls (Crosby County).

High Wind in LAMB, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 16:35:00 to 18-MAR-18 16:35:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in PARMER, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 17:45:00 to 18-MAR-18 17:45:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in LAMB, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 17:45:00 to 18-MAR-18 17:45:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 60.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in CASTRO, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 18:05:00 to 18-MAR-18 18:05:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in HOCKLEY, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 18:40:00 to 18-MAR-18 18:40:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in HALE, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 18:50:00 to 18-MAR-18 18:50:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 54.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in LUBBOCK, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 19:35:00 to 18-MAR-18 19:35:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 51.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in MOTLEY, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 19:50:00 to 18-MAR-18 19:50:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in SWISHER, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 22:05:00 to 18-MAR-18 22:24:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in HALE, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 23:40:00 to 18-MAR-18 23:40:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 51.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in LUBBOCK, TEXAS
From 18-MAR-18 23:45:00 to 18-MAR-18 23:45:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 51.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

High Wind in COCHRAN, TEXAS
From 19-MAR-18 00:05:00 to 19-MAR-18 00:05:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in CROSBY, TEXAS
From 19-MAR-18 00:20:00 to 19-MAR-18 00:20:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in LUBBOCK, TEXAS
From 19-MAR-18 00:40:00 to 19-MAR-18 00:40:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in DICKENS, TEXAS
From 19-MAR-18 01:15:00 to 19-MAR-18 01:25:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 53.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in KING, TEXAS
From 19-MAR-18 01:35:00 to 19-MAR-18 01:35:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 51.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet