The wildfire known as the Borger wildfire started four miles southeast of Borger on the Burnett (6666) Ranch property. This wildfire was caused by downed power lines due to the strong gradient southwesterly winds.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS AMA wrote it up.
The wildfire known as the Borger wildfire started four miles southeast of Borger on the Burnett (6666) Ranch property. This wildfire was caused by downed power lines due to the strong gradient southwesterly winds. The wildfire burned four hundred and seventy-nine thousand five hundred and forty-nine acres. Twenty eight structures were lost and seven people were killed. This fire burned into southeast Hutchinson County...northwest Gray County...through central Roberts County and finally into western Hemphill County. The second wildfire known as the Interstate 40 wildfire burned four hundred and twenty-seven thousand six hundred and ninety-six acres. This wildfire started four miles east of Groom near Boydston and was also caused by downed power lines from the strong gradient southwesterly winds. Eighty vehicles and eighty outbuildings were destroyed. Nine fire fighters were injured and one of those injured fire fighters died about a month later. Four people were killed in a nine vehicle accident on Interstate 40. The Texas Forest Service named the two wildfires the East Amarillo Complex which killed approximately five thousand head of livestock. Over forty structures were destroyed including thirty-two homes. More than one thousand and forty electrical poles were destroyed leaving at least eighty homes without power. The wildfires also destroyed about seven hundred miles of fencing. The Texas Forest Service said that the wildfires moved forty-five miles in just nine hours with a spread rate of five miles an hour and flame lengths of greater than eleven feet.
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 Mar 12, 10:57 AM CST, 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1057 AM CST SUN MAR 12 2006
.UPDATE...
GRAPHICAL FCSTS HAVE BEEN UPDATED. TEXT PRODUCTS WILL SOON FOLLOW.
HAVE UPDATED MAX TEMPS TDA...AS DEEP MIXING WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO REACH
WELL INTO 70S OVER MUCH OF THE AREA. HAVE INCREASED WINDS A BIT...AND
HAVE EXPANDED WIND ADZY TO INCLUDE SERN TX PNHDL. H7 GRADIENT IS FCST
TO TIGHTEN LATE THIS AFTN WITH STG DOWNWARD MOTIONS EXPECTED. NO
OTHER CHANGES AT THIS TIME.
COCKRELL/JORDAN
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... (ISSUED 519 AM CST SUN MAR 12 2006)
UPDATE...
FINISHED UP THE EXTENDED PACKAGE AFTER THE 4 AM RELEASE. ONLY MINOR
CHANGES WERE REQUIRED. OTHERWISE...DRY FORECAST CONTINUES.
PREV DISCUSSION... (ISSUED 359 AM CST SUN MAR 12 2006)
DISCUSSION...
STRONG JET STREAM WILL BE ORIENTATED ACROSS THE PANHANDLES
TODAY...DEEPENING THE SURFACE LOW PRESSURE OVER EASTERN COLORADO.
THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL TIGHTEN DURING THE DAY...RESULTING IN
WINDY CONDITIONS ONCE AGAIN. WIND SPEEDS WILL NECESSITATE A WIND
ADVISORY FOR ALL BUT THE SOUTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE THROUGH THE EARLY
EVENING. GIVEN THE WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS...A VERY HIGH TO EXTREME
FIRE DANGER WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE PANHANDLES. ALSO...BOATERS WILL
NEED TO TAKE CAUTION ON AREA LAKES.
A COLD FRONT IS STILL ON TRACK TO MOVE THROUGH THE AREA EARLY ON
MONDAY. COOL CANADIAN AIR WILL LOWER READINGS 5 TO 10 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL. THE LACK OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL NEGATE THE POTENTIAL FOR
PRECIPITATION.
SOUTHERLY FLOW RETURNS QUICKLY BY TUESDAY MORNING. DRIER AND WARMER
CONDITIONS EMERGE AHEAD OF THE NEXT COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE ON
WEDNESDAY. DUE TO THE LATER PASSAGE...BREEZY AND WARM CONDITIONS ON
WEDNESDAY SHOULD HEIGHTEN THE FIRE DANGER ONCE AGAIN.
COOLER TEMPERATURES RETURN WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY WHILE THE
HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVER THE PANHANDLES. HOWEVER...AN UPPER LEVEL
RIDGE BUILDS OVERHEAD LATE IN THE WEEK...AND USHER IN THE WARM AIR
NORTH AGAIN.
.AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 8 PM SUNDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
BEAVER...CIMARRON...AND TEXAS.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM SUNDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
BEAVER...CIMARRON...AND TEXAS.
TX...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 8 PM SUNDAY 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.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM SUNDAY 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.
&&
03/17TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 830 AM CST SUN MAR 12 2006 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-121900- ARMSTRONG-BEAVER-CARSON-CIMARRON-COLLINGSWORTH-DALLAM-DEAF SMITH- DONLEY-GRAY-HANSFORD-HARTLEY-HEMPHILL-HUTCHINSON-LIPSCOMB-MOORE- OCHILTREE-OLDHAM-POTTER-RANDALL-ROBERTS-SHERMAN-TEXAS-WHEELER- 830 AM CST SUN MAR 12 2006 CORRECTED TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES THROUGH 8 PM THIS EVENING. STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INTERACT WITH LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES AND DRY GRASSES TO PRODUCE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR LOCATIONS TO THE NORTH AND WEST OF A LINE FROM WAYSIDE...TO LEFORS...TO CANADIAN...THROUGH 8 PM AS WELL. SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO AROUND 35 MPH...WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH. THE STRONG WINDS WILL ALSO CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING DUST...REDUCING VISIBILITIES AT TIMES. ALSO...CAUTION IS ADVISED ON AREA LAKES TODAY AND EARLY THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... FIRE DANGER WILL INCREASE ON WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER...LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION AND FORECASTS...AS THE THREAT OF CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND. COCKRELL
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 49 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 56 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 14 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 46 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 94 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 84 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 64 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 42 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 32 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 32 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-03-12 | 30 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Wildfire, Gray | 2006-04-09 | 62 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, March 2006
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: 5496254, 5496255.