06.15.10

World Wide Weather #6: Matador, Texas

Posted in Severe Weather Forecast, Weather News at 1:43 pm by Rebekah

This week’s post in the global weather and climate series features Matador, Texas.

I chose this town because I briefly stopped there last night on the way back to Norman from a storm chase, and there could be some storms around Matador this afternoon/evening as well.

Bob’s Oil Well in Matador, Texas.

Located in west north Texas, just south of the panhandle, Matador is home to 740 people (2000 census) and the seat of Motley County, Texas. Bob’s Oil Well, seen in the photo above, was established by a guy called Bob who moved to Matador after he fought in World War I. Up until his death in 1947, Bob kept live rattlesnakes and exotic animals in a small zoo to attract visitors from across the country to come to his adopted hometown.

A few more facts about Matador (weather data from US Climate Data):

  • Time zone: Central Standard Time (UTC-6) or Central Daylight Time (UTC-5)
  • Elevation: 2382 ft above mean sea level
  • Climate zone: Semi-arid (Plains climate)
  • Average high temperature: 75 °F (24 °C)
  • Average low temperature: 49 °F (9 °C)
  • Average annual precipitation: 23 inches (584 mm)

Current and forecast weather: The National Weather Service is calling for mostly sunny skies and highs in the lower 90s this week in Matador, with lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s. Yesterday, some strong thunderstorms passed through Matador, and today there could be some strong to severe thunderstorms that pass through the same area.

With dewpoints in the upper 60s, southerly surface winds veering to westerly winds aloft, moderate instability, and some weak wind shear, it looks like there will be a decent chance for multicells and probably a few supercells to form in the south Texas Panhandle into west central Texas and eastern New Mexico. Severe hail and an isolated tornado or two cannot be ruled out.

For more information on Matador, here’s a link to Wikipedia.

For information on current and forecast Matador weather, see the National Weather Service Lubbock page for Matador.

Next Tuesday I plan to take a look at the climate and weather in Antarctica.  As always, if you have any comments or suggestions for future cities, please leave a comment on this post!

Comments are closed.