Wildfire in Oklahoma, January 3 to 4, 2006

Name: Wildfire in Oklahoma, January 3 to 4, 2006
Start: 2006-01-03T13:00
End: 2006-01-04T03:00
Location: Oklahoma

January 3 to 4, 2006 · NWS AMA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

low relative humidities and very dry fuels combined to produce two wildfires in the eastern Oklahoma panhandle during the early afternoon hours and continued until after midnight. The first wildfire was reported three and one-quarter miles west of Clearlake and the second wildfire occurred near the Beaver River or six miles east of Beaver.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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Wind
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Winter weather
Heat and drought
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Fire, smoke and dust
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AMA wrote it up.

Strong winds...low relative humidities and very dry fuels combined to produce two wildfires in the eastern Oklahoma panhandle during the early afternoon hours and continued until after midnight. The first wildfire was reported three and one-quarter miles west of Clearlake and the second wildfire occurred near the Beaver River or six miles east of Beaver. Several structures were threatened at the Clearlake fire. A total of around fourteen thousand acres were burned.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 3, 8:47 AM CST, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 3, 8:47 AM CST, 4 hours 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
847 AM CST TUE JAN 3 2006

.DISCUSSION...
HAVE REEVALUATED AFTN DWPTS.  RESULT IS NERN ZONES BEING CLOSE TO
REACHING CRITICAL 15 PCT RH FOR 3-HOUR PERIOD.  THUS...HAVE EXTENDED
RED FLAG WRNG TO INCLUDE THESE SECTIONS AS WELL.

COCKRELL

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... (ISSUED 340 AM CST TUE JAN 3 2006)

DISCUSSION...
FIRE WEATHER THE BIG CONCERN FOR THE DAY TODAY. SFC TROUGH WILL
CONTINUE TO DEEPEN THROUGH 18Z BEFORE RELAXING SLIGHTLY. WINDS WILL
PICK UP INTO THE 20 TO 25 MPH RANGE WITH GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH. DEAD FUEL
MOISTURE FOR THE AREA HOVERING BETWEEN 2 TO 4 PERCENT...WITH THE
POSSIBLE EXCEPTION TO THE NE CWA WHERE A FEW TENTHS OF RAIN FELL ON
SUNDAY. RH VALUES EXPECTED TO DIP DOWN NEAR OR BELOW 15 PERCENT FOR
MOST OF THE AREA. STRONG WESTERLY WINDS WILL ADVECT DRY AIR FROM
EASTERN NM WHERE DEW POINTS ARE STILL IN THE TEENS. THERE ARE 2
POSSIBLE LIMITING FACTORS FOR RH VALUES THOUGH. FORECAST SOUNDINGS
SHOW LOW TO MID LEVEL MOISTURE ADVECTION...AND SUGGEST THAT MID TO
UPPER 20 DEW POINTS WILL MIX DOWN FROM A LAYER BETWEEN 800MB TO 850MB
BY 18Z. ALSO...SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A DECENT CIRRUS LAYER OVER THE
PANHANDLES. HOWEVER...THERE IS ALSO PLENTY OF DRY POCKETS IN NEW
MEXICO...AND MODELS DO INDICATE THAT THE CIRRUS LAYER WILL
DETERIORATE NEAR 18Z. IF THE CLOUDS MANAGE TO STICK AROUND LONG
ENOUGH THEN DEEP MIXING MAY BE LIMITED...TEMPS MAY NOT REACH THEIR
POTENTIAL...AND RH VALUES WILL BE CLOSER TO 20 PERCENT. NONE THE
LESS...WITH TEMPERATURES FORECAST TO REACH NEAR RECORD HIGHS THAT ARE
20 TO 25 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL...DRY SURFACE CONDITIONS...AND GUSTY
WINDS...DECIDED THAT BEST COURSE OF ACTION WOULD BE TO ISSUE A RED
FLAG WARNING FOR ALL BUT THE NE CWA. THINKING A FIRE DANGER STATEMENT
IS BETTER SUITED FOR THE THAT AREA.

BY WEDNESDAY...THE UPPER RIDGE WILL SET UP OVER THE WEST COAST WITH A
DEEP TROUGH OVER THE EAST COAST. THIS MEANS COOLER NW FLOW ALOFT FOR
THE PANHANDLES. BIGGEST CHANGE THROUGH THE EXTENDED PACKAGE WAS TO
DECREASE TEMPS A FEW DEGREES ON FRIDAY. APPEARS THE UPPER RIDGE WILL
MOVE A BIT SLOWER EAST AND PROVIDE NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT FOR A FEW
MORE HOURS INTO FRIDAY. RIDGE THEN MOVES MORE OVER THE PANHANDLES AND
MODELS SHOW A GOOD INCREASE IN THICKNESSES FOR SATURDAY. LEE TROUGH
BUILDS DOWN AND STRENGTHENS ON SATURDAY AS WELL SO THINKING TEMPS
MAY ONCE AGAIN HOVER NEAR 70 DEGREES. AND WITH WESTERLY WINDS
KICKING UP IN RESPONSE TO THE SFC TROUGH...THINKING SATURDAY MAY BE
ANOTHER FIRE WEATHER CONCERN.

JJB

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
AMARILLO TX                75  33  56  28 /   0   0   0   0
BEAVER OK                  72  35  55  26 /   0   0   0   0
BOISE CITY OK              71  29  57  24 /   0   0   0   0
BORGER TX                  72  38  60  30 /   0   0   0   0
BOYS RANCH TX              72  32  58  27 /   0   0   0   0
CANYON TX                  77  32  57  25 /   0   0   0   0
CLARENDON TX               76  37  59  29 /   0   0   0   0
DALHART TX                 70  29  56  24 /   0   0   0   0
GUYMON OK                  71  33  57  27 /   0   0   0   0
HEREFORD TX                76  31  57  22 /   0   0   0   0
LIPSCOMB TX                72  35  58  26 /   0   0   0   0
PAMPA TX                   72  37  57  32 /   0   0   0   0
SHAMROCK TX                75  38  61  29 /   0   0   0   0
WELLINGTON TX              76  39  61  31 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 6 PM TUESDAY FOR THE
     FOLLOWING ZONES: BEAVER...CIMARRON...AND TEXAS.

TX...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 6 PM TUESDAY FOR THE
     FOLLOWING ZONES: ARMSTRONG...CARSON...COLLINGSWORTH...
     DALLAM...DEAF SMITH...DONLEY...GRAY...HANSFORD...HARTLEY...
     HEMPHILL...HUTCHINSON...LIPSCOMB...MOORE...OCHILTREE...
     OLDHAM...POTTER...RANDALL...ROBERTS...SHERMAN...AND
     WHEELER.

&&

10/03

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 3, 12:08 PM CST, 52 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1208 PM CST TUE JAN 3 2006

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-041200-
ARMSTRONG-BEAVER-CARSON-CIMARRON-COLLINGSWORTH-DALLAM-DEAF SMITH-
DONLEY-GRAY-HANSFORD-HARTLEY-HEMPHILL-HUTCHINSON-LIPSCOMB-MOORE-
OCHILTREE-OLDHAM-POTTER-RANDALL-ROBERTS-SHERMAN-TEXAS-WHEELER-
1208 PM CST TUE JAN 3 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES.

.DAY ONE...

A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY WHICH INCLUDES ALL OF THE
TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. STRONG WINDS...LOW HUMIDITY...AND VERY
WARM CONDITIONS WILL COMBINE TO CREATE AN EXTREME FIRE DANGER
POTENTIAL ACROSS THE PANHANDLES.

DUE TO THE STRONG WINDS...CAUTION IS ADVISED ON AREAS LAKES THROUGH
EARLY THIS EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...

DRY CONDITIONS...GUSTY WINDS...AND LOW HUMIDITY WILL RESULT IN
ELEVATED FIRE DANGER POTENTIAL ON SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...FIRE
FIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY RESPONDERS WILL NEED TO BE ALERT FOR
ADDITIONAL WILDFIRE OUTBREAKS.

HENNIG

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Beaver

When: January 3, 1:00 PM CST to January 4, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Beaver forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.750, -100.477 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, January 2006

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5486448.