Texas, 2006

Wildfire in Texas, May 20 to 22, 2006

May 20 to 22, 2006 · NWS AMA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A wildfire sixteen miles north-northwest of Bootleg burned four thousand eight hundred and eighty acres. Four people were injured along with two homes saved but one home destroyed.

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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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
4
Property damage
$100,000
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 sixteen miles north-northwest of Bootleg burned four thousand eight hundred and eighty acres. Four people were injured along with two homes saved but one home destroyed. Also...five outbuildings were saved but one outbuilding was destroyed.

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 May 20, 2:20 PM CST, 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 2:20 PM CST, 52 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
320 PM CDT SAT MAY 20 2006

.DISCUSSION...
TEMPS STILL CLIMBING TO THE CENTURY MARK AT MANY LOCATIONS AS SOME
SCHOOLNET SITES AS WELL AS AWOS AND WEST TEXAS MESONET STATIONS ARE
IN THE UPPER 90S AND A FEW AT THE CENTURY MARK. THIS WARMING HAS ALLOWED
ATMOSPHERE TO MIX OUT QUITE A BIT...AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE
DEVELOPING ACROSS THE TX AND OK PNHDLS THIS AFTERNOON. WEAK FRONTAL
BOUNDARY RUNS FROM NEAR BOOKER TO CLAUDE TO FRIONA AND THIS COULD
ALSO HELP PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR LATER DEVELOPMENT. MADE A LAST MINUTE
ADDITION OF 20 POPS FOR TONIGHT ACROSS THE AREA FOR THE ISOLATED
STORMS...SOME OF WHICH COULD PRODUCE GUSTY OUTFLOW WINDS AS HIGH
BASES ALLOW FOR PLENTY OF EVAPORATION AS PRECIPITATION FALLS THROUGH
FAIRLY DRY MIXED LAYER.

COULD SEE A REPEAT TOMORROW AS MODELS INDICATE SOME KIND OF FRONT TO
BE IN THE AREA AND DEEP MIXING TO TAKE PLACE ONCE AGAIN EVEN THOUGH
MAX TEMPS WILL BE A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAN TODAY. KEPT POP STRUCTURE
THE SAME WITH BLANKET 20 POPS FOR LATE AFTERNOON TO ALMOST MIDNIGHT
FOR DIURNALLY DRIVEN CONVECTION. COULD SEE SOME TSTMS ROLL OFF THE
MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO AND MOVE EAST SOUTHEASTWARD TOWARDS THE
REGION...BUT FEEL THESE WILL STAY IN KS AND SKIRT THE KS/OK BORDER
LATE OR OVERNIGHT.

RIDGE THEN BUILDS OVERHEAD FOR THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK AS TROF
MOVES ONSHORE AND GETS PUSHED ACROSS THE NRN PLAINS AROUND THE AXIS
OF THE RIDGE. THIS MIGHT BE ENOUGH TO HELP RIDGE FLATTEN OUT OR PUSH
MORE TOWARDS THE EAST ALLOWING TEMPS TO MODERATE JUST A BIT. IT WILL
STILL BE WARM THROUGH MIDWEEK WITH TEMPS IN THE LOW/MID 90S. WILL
ALSO HAVE TO WATCH AND SEE IF RIDGE BUILDS BACK WEST WHICH WOULD HELP
PUSH MAX TEMPS CLOSER TO MID/UPPER 90S. ONLY CHANCE FROM MEX GUIDANCE
WAS TO COOL TEMPS BACK A BIT THU AND FRI AS LOW DEEPENS ACROSS THE
NRN MS RIVER VALLEY AND FLOW BECOMES A BIT MORE NWLY ACROSS THE AREA.
ALL THAT MEANS IS TEMPS WILL STAY IN THE LOW 90S...ABOUT 2-5 DEG
ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. NO POPS IN THE EXTENDED EITHER AS
SUMMER-LIKE WEATHER LOOKS TO STAY PUT FOR A WHILE.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
AMARILLO TX                63  95  63  95 /  20  20  20  10
BEAVER OK                  61  94  67  96 /  20  20  20  10
BOISE CITY OK              61  94  58  95 /  20  20  20  10
BORGER TX                  67  97  69  96 /  20  20  20  10
BOYS RANCH TX              67  95  64  99 /  20  20  20  10
CANYON TX                  63  95  62  97 /  20  20  20  10
CLARENDON TX               67  96  68  95 /  20  20  20  10
DALHART TX                 59  94  59  94 /  20  20  20  10
GUYMON OK                  62  98  62  99 /  20  20  20  10
HEREFORD TX                61  93  60  93 /  20  20  20  10
LIPSCOMB TX                64  93  69  94 /  20  20  20  10
PAMPA TX                   66  95  68  94 /  20  20  20  10
SHAMROCK TX                68  93  68  96 /  20  20  20  10
WELLINGTON TX              67  97  69  96 /  20  20  20  10

&&

.AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...NONE.
TX...NONE.
&&

03/17
Hazardous weather outlook, May 20, 2:45 PM CST, 27 minutes before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
345 PM CDT SAT MAY 20 2006

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-211100-
ARMSTRONG-BEAVER-CARSON-CIMARRON-COLLINGSWORTH-DALLAM-DEAF SMITH-
DONLEY-GRAY-HANSFORD-HARTLEY-HEMPHILL-HUTCHINSON-LIPSCOMB-MOORE-
OCHILTREE-OLDHAM-POTTER-RANDALL-ROBERTS-SHERMAN-TEXAS-WHEELER-
345 PM CDT SAT MAY 20 2006

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

.DAY ONE...

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING. DUST DEVILS AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS WILL OCCUR. NO HAZARDOUS
WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...

THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON
AND SUNDAY EVENING. AT THIS TIME...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT
EXPECTED. FIRE DANGER WILL INCREASE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY
EVENING...DUE TO BREEZY CONDITIONS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES...AND
DRY FUELS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

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, Deaf Smith

When
May 20, 3:12 PM CST to May 22, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Deaf Smith forecast zone
Injuries
4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$100,000
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
34.966, -102.605 (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 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 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: 5505581.