That storm hit while Lubbock High students were finishing up their school week, with Halloween plans and dinner spots like Chinese Kitchen still on the calendar for later that month. The rain didn't let up all day.
The comparison matters this year because a slow-moving cold front dumped heavy rain across Texas at the end of September, triggering flash flooding in several areas. That same pattern was expected to carry into October, raising questions about how this month stacks up against past wet spells.
For people in Lubbock, a record like 1983's is a reminder of how fast weather here can flip from dry to soaked. Flash flooding doesn't need a hurricane. Just a front that refuses to move. Anyone who's driven through standing water on a Lubbock street during a heavy rain knows the drainage system gets tested fast when totals climb that high in a short window.
More than four decades later, one October afternoon in 1983 still holds the title nobody's been able to beat.