Believe it or not, there are a few small steps that could be taken to mitigate the wind in Lubbock.

The first step we could take is to install a big tube that takes wind from one side of town and shoots it out the other. Okay, that’s obviously not feasible, but there actually are a few real-world things that can help.

Lubbock Could Use A Few Preplanned Windbreaks

I can’t help but smile writing this, but when I was in Brownfield a lot of us kids would go to “the windbreaks” to make out. Windbreaks are a very real thing and usually consist of rows of trees planted to break up wind flow. Something like this would never eliminate the wind entirely, but depending on the number of trees and how densely they’re planted, they can slow it down a bit. And before you think this sounds too far-fetched, Lubbock has actually experimented with the concept in the past.

Speaking of planting, tall grasses and other wind-barrier crops can also soften the wind somewhat. They help hold the soil in place too, which can reduce the dust that blows around during those classic West Texas gusts.

Next up are man-made structures. Just like trees, buildings placed in the right locations can help disrupt wind flow and keep it from ripping across open spaces quite as freely.

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The truth is, Lubbock is flat, dry, and naturally prone to high winds. That’s always going to keep things a little exciting — and a little brown — around here. So while there are things that could help take the edge off the wind, most of them would be expensive or impractical to implement on a large scale. In the end, the wind is just part of the West Texas package.

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