Wildfire, Swain
- When
- March 11, 12:00 PM EST to March 12, 3:00 AM EST
- Where
- Swain forecast zone
- Property damage
- $1.0 million
- Reported by
- Emergency Manager
- Coordinates
- 35.487, -83.493 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in North Carolina, March 11 to 12, 2007
An extended period of dry, gusty weather allowed a forest fire to spread rapidly in the Grassy Ridge community of Swain County during the afternoon and evening. The fire burned 9 homes in the area.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $1.0 million
- 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 GSP wrote it up.
An extended period of dry, gusty weather allowed a forest fire to spread rapidly in the Grassy Ridge community of Swain County during the afternoon and evening. The fire burned 9 homes in the area. More than 200 fire fighters were required to extinguish the blaze.
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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 11, 8:34 AM EST, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 11, 8:34 AM EST, 3 hours 26 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 934 AM EDT SUN MAR 11 2007 .SHORT TERM /REST OF TODAY/... A MEAN LONGWAVE TROUGH EXISTS ALONG THE EAST COAST THIS MORNING...WITH SOUTHERN STREAM SHORTWAVES OVER WESTERN ATLANTIC AND IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS...AND A NORTHERN STREAM SHORTWAVE EXTENDS FROM EASTERN CANADA TO THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. A SURFACE COLD FRONT WAS ANALYZED ACROSS THE CENTER OF OUR AREA AT 12Z...WITH A BAND OF EXTENSIVE MID LEVEL CLOUD COVER ALONG AND NORTH OF IT. THIS FRONT AND ITS ASSOCIATED MOISTURE WILL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTH...BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH TO REMOVE CLOUD COVER FROM THE SOUTH PORTION OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. MODEL GUIDANCE CARRIES NO POPS WITH THE BOUNDARY...AND NONE WILL BE CARRIED IN THE FORECAST. OBSERVATION TRENDS AND 06Z MAV GUIDANCE SUGGEST LOWERING TEMPERATURES ALONG INTERSTATE 40 A COUPLE OF DEGREES...WHILE RAISING THEM A COUPLE OF DEGREES IN THE MOUNTAINS. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY SHIFT TO THE NORTHEAST AND INCREASE SLIGHTLY...WHILE DEW POINTS LOWER FROM THE NORTH THIS AFTERNOON. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 154 AM EST SUN MAR 11 2007/ SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... BY 12 UTC SFC FRONT SHOULD BE LOCATED SOMEWHERE IN THE VCNTY OF THE NC/SC BORDER. THE FRONT WILL THEN DROP SOUTH...AIDED BY CAD PROCESSES...DURING THE DAY. BY AFTERNOON...THERE SHOULD BE QUITE A BIT OF SUNSHINE IN THE NC ZONES AS THE RIDGE IS QUITE DRY AND THE UPSLOPE FLOW WEAK BEHIND THE FRONT. NE GA AND THE WRN UPSTATE LOOK TO HOLD ON TO A LITTLE MORE CLOUD COVER. MAX TEMPS WILL BE VERY MILD...WITH BOTH THE MET AND MAV ADVERTISING U60S TO L70S ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT. THAT MAY BE A HAIR OPTIMISTIC IN THE NRN ZONES WHERE THICKNESSES FALL LATER IN THE DAY...BUT TEMPS ARE STARTING MILD...AND THESE ZONES SHOULD ALSO SEE THE MOST SUN TODAY. A FEW SHRA ARE ONGOING ACROSS THE MTNS...BUT THE ACTIVITY SHOULD END BY THE BEGINNING OF THE DAYTIME PERIOD OF THE ZONES...AND HAVE KEPT THE FORECAST DRY. THE REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM WILL BE UNEVENTFUL...AS NORTHWEST FLOW AND SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE CONSPIRE TO KEEP THE REGION DRY...WITH TEMPS EXPECTED TO AVERAGE SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS. LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... RISING HEIGHTS AND WESTERLY FLOW WILL LEAD TO A RATHER IMPRESSIVE WARM-UP BY TUESDAY. IN FACT...MAV GUIDANCE ADVERTISES MAX TEMPS NEAR 80 ON TUESDAY. WE WILL NOT GO QUITE THAT WARM...BUT WE HAVE INCR MAXES TO REFLECT MID TO UPPER 70S TUE AFTERNOON. THIS VERY WARM WEATHER WILL LIKELY CONTINUE INTO LATE WEEK...AS FRONTAL BOUNDARY STALLS OVER THE OHIO VALLEY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INCREASINGLY ZONAL FLOW. WEAK SHORT WAVE ENERGY ADVECTING OVER THE AREA IN ADVANCE OF UPPER LOW MEANDERING OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS/LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY BRINGS INCREASING PRECIP CHANCES TO THE AREA DURING MID-WEEK...BUT ONLY TOKEN CHANCE POPS APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED ATTM. AVIATION /07Z-06Z/... COLD FRONT WAS JUST STARING TO MOVE INTO THE NC MTNS AT TAF ISSUANCE TIME. IT WILL TAKE A WHILE FOR THE COLD AIR DAMMING TO ESTABLISH ITSELF...AND WINDS SHOULD BE LIGHT FOR A WHILE...BEFORE TAKING ON MORE OF NORTHERLY COMPONENT AFTER 10 UTC. WINDS WILL TURN MORE NE AS THE CAD STRENGTHENS...IN A RELATIVE SINCE...A FEW HOURS AFTER SUNRISE. CIGS LOOK TO REMAIN IN THE VFR RANGE. KAVL COULD SEE SOME MVFR LATER TONIGHT AS UPSLOPE FLOW BECOMES A LITTLE STRONGER...BUT WITH NO MOS GUIDANCE TO SUPPORT THIS...I DIDN/T INCLUDE IT. CLEARING SHOULD WORK IN FROM THE NORTH BY LATE MORNING...BUT WITH NO SIGNIFICANT CIG CHANGES...I DIDN/T INCLUDE AN EXTRA LINE IN THE TAFS FOR CLEARING ATTM. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JAT
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 11, 3:40 AM EST, 8 hours 20 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 440 AM EDT SUN MAR 11 2007 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033-035>037-048>053-056>059-062>065- 068>072-082-501>510-SCZ001>014-019-120845- RABUN-HABERSHAM-STEPHENS-FRANKLIN-HART-ELBERT-AVERY-ALEXANDER- IREDELL-DAVIE-MADISON-YANCEY-MITCHELL-SWAIN-HAYWOOD-BUNCOMBE-CATAWBA- ROWAN-GRAHAM-NORTHERN JACKSON-MACON-SOUTHERN JACKSON-TRANSYLVANIA- HENDERSON-CLEVELAND-LINCOLN-GASTON-MECKLENBURG-CABARRUS-UNION NC- CALDWELL MOUNTAINS-GREATER CALDWELL-BURKE MOUNTAINS-GREATER BURKE- MCDOWELL MOUNTAINS-EASTERN MCDOWELL-RUTHERFORD MOUNTAINS- GREATER RUTHERFORD-POLK MOUNTAINS-EASTERN POLK-OCONEE MOUNTAINS- PICKENS MOUNTAINS-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS-GREATER OCONEE- GREATER PICKENS-GREATER GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG-CHEROKEE-YORK- ANDERSON-ABBEVILLE-LAURENS-UNION SC-CHESTER-GREENWOOD- 440 AM EDT SUN MAR 11 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. LANE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, March 11 to 13, 2007
- Wildfire in California, March 11 to 14, 2007
- Damaging Winds in Texas, March 11, 2007
- Flooding in South Dakota, March 11 to 26, 2007
- High Wind in Montana, March 11 to 12, 2007
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, March 11, 2007
- Flooding in Iowa, March 11 to 24, 2007
- Heat in California, March 11 to 16, 2007
- Extreme Cold in Alaska, March 11 to 14, 2007
- Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, March 11, 2007
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 11, 2007
- Strong Wind in Washington, March 11, 2007
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, March 2007
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: 22149.