Directional Climatology and Precipitation on the Southern High Plains of North America

Authors: Stout, John; Mauget, Steven

Submitted to: Texas Journal of Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/27/2025
Publication Date: 11/6/2025
Citation: Stout, J.E., Mauget, S.A. 2025. Directional Climatology and Precipitation on the Southern High Plains of North America. Texas Journal of Science. 77(1). https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_77_1_Article4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_77_1_Article4

Interpretive Summary: The Southern High Plains is fortunate to have long-term hourly records of rainfall and associated climatic conditions. These data provide valuable information about the timing and distribution of rain events and their relation to important climatic factors. As groundwater resources are gradually depleted, agricultural producers will gradually transition from irrigated to rain-fed agriculture. As the region's economy becomes increasingly dependent on rainfall, knowledge of various aspects of rainfall becomes increasingly important. Here an attempt was made to better define the link between physical geography and rainfall. It is well known that there is a direct connection between wind direction and climatic conditions. For example, winds blowing from the sea to land are typically moist and can lead to increased humidity and a higher probability of rainfall. Winds blowing from arctic regions convey cold air to regions of relative warmth. The exact relationship between wind direction and climatic variables depends on the specific location of interest and the physical characteristics of surrounding geography. On the Southern High Plains, winds with a westerly component are typically dry and tend to promote desiccation of the landscape. Winds with an easterly component tend to convey moisture up from the Gulf of Mexico and tend to be associated with high humidity and a higher potential for precipitation. However, this investigation found that winds blowing out of the northeast were associated with the highest amount of rainfall in the region.

Technical Abstract: There is a direct and observable connection between wind direction and atmospheric conditions; however, the exact relationship depends on location and the physical characteristics of surrounding geographic features. In this study, attempts have been made to better quantify relationships between wind direction and resulting atmospheric conditions on the Southern High Plains of North America. A 48-year record of hourly observations of climatic variables paired with observations of wind direction provided the raw data from which directional distributions of climatic variables were computed. Results of these analyses suggest that north-northeast winds tend to be associated with the highest rainfall and the highest relative humidity; however, north-northeast winds were not associated with exceptionally high absolute humidity, as indicted by fairly moderate dew point values. South-southeast winds tended to have the highest absolute humidity or the highest dew point temperatures. Directional distributions of rainfall were found to vary only marginally with the seasons. Although one would assume that directional distributions of rainfall would vary with geographic location, a comparison of distributions computed from data collected at three meteorological stations on the Southern High Plains proved inconclusive. Results suggest that the Lubbock and Midland stations follow nearly identical patterns whereas the Amarillo distribution appears to deviate more appreciably from the other two sites.