Name: Wildfire in Texas, March 12, 2006
Start: 2006-03-12T11:45
End: 2006-03-12T18:00
Location: Texas

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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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.

A wildfire six miles west southwest of Cactus burned five hundred acres. There were no reports of structure damage or injuries.

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 Mar 12, 10:57 AM CST, 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 10:57 AM CST, 48 minutes before

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.

&&

03/17

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 12, 11:38 AM CST, 7 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1138 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-
1138 AM CST SUN MAR 12 2006

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

A RED FLAG WARNING FOR EXTREME FIRE DANGER 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 ALL OF THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES THROUGH
8 PM AS WELL. SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO AROUND 35
MPH...WITH GUSTS UP TO 55 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 EARLY
EVENING.

COCKRELL

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, Moore

When: March 12, 11:45 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Moore forecast zone
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 35.838, -101.893 (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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, March 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: 5496258.