Lubbock has a cool semiarid climate Köppen classification BSk). On average, Lubbock receives 18.69 in (475 mm) of rain and 8.2 in (0.21 m) of snow per year.
In 2013, Lubbock was named the “Toughest Weather City” in America according to the Weather Channel.
Summers are hot, with 78 afternoons on average of 90 °F (32.2 °C)+ highs and 7.4 afternoons of 100 °F (37.8 °C)+ highs, although due to the aridity and elevation, temperatures remain above 70 °F (21.1 °C) on only a few mornings. Lubbock is the 10th-windiest city in the US with an average wind speed of 12.4 mph (20.0 km/h; 5.5 m/s). The highest recorded temperature was 114 °F (45.6 °C) on June 27, 1994.
Winter afternoons in Lubbock are typically sunny and mild, but mornings are cold, with temperatures usually dipping below freezing, and as the city is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7, lows reaching 10 °F or −12.2 °C occur on 2.5 mornings and 5.7 afternoons occur where the temperature fails to rise above freezing. The lowest recorded temperature was −17 °F (−27.2 °C) on February 8, 1933.
Lubbock can experience severe thunderstorms during the spring, and occasionally the summer. The risk of tornadoes and very large hail exists during the spring in particular, as Lubbock sits on the far southwestern edge of Tornado Alley.