Wildfire in Texas, February 1, 2008

Name: Wildfire in Texas, February 1, 2008
Start: 2008-02-01T00:00
End: 2008-02-01T19:00
Location: Texas

February 1, 2008 · NWS BRO · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Dry air and strong gusty winds ignited several wild fires in the central Lower Rio Grande Valley to close January. One of these fires, in Jim Hogg County, continued to burn into the first day of February before being contained.

Where it happened

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.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 BRO wrote it up.

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 Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 31, 7:50 PM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 7:50 PM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
750 PM CST THU JAN 31 2008

.DISCUSSION...MSAS SHOWS VERY DRY AIR HAS FILTERED INTO THE
RGV...WITH THE LOWEST DWPTS OF 14 TO 18 DEG F CONFINED TO NRN JIM
HOGG AND BROOKS. LATEST NAM12 DOES NOT SHOW TEMPS BELOW FREEZING IN
ALL OF SOUTH TEXAS...INCLUDING CRP CWA. GFS SIMILAR IN NOT
PROJECTING FREEZING TEMPERATURES IN THE REGION FRIDAY MORNING...WITH
PROGD LOWS 34 DEG F FOR ALI AND 40 FOR LRD. DUE TO SIMILAR TEMP
PROJECTIONS FROM THE 12Z MDL RUN...PREVIOUS MET MUST HAVE CONFIDENCE
IN AGGRESSIVE RADIATIONAL COOLING AND WILL NOT DEVIATE FROM CURRENT
PROJECTED TEMPERATURES NEAR 32 DEG NORTH...WHICH WERE COORDINATED
WITH CRP THIS PM.

NO CHANGES.
&&

.PREV DISCUSSION...COOLER AND MUCH DRIER AIR CONTINUES TO FILTER INTO
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON IN THE WAKE OF A COLD FRONT THAT
IS MOVING OFFSHORE THE LOWER TX COAST. MODERATE TO STRONG NORTH TO
NORTHWEST WINDS THIS EVENING WILL PROVIDE COLD AIR ADVECTION
ACROSS THE CWA THIS EVENING AND AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT DIMINISHES
LATE TONIGHT...CLEAR SKIES WITH LIGHTER WINDS WILL PROVIDE
RADIATIONAL COOLING. WITH THAT SAID...WILL LIKELY SEE FREEZING
TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA. WILL GO AHEAD
AND ISSUE A FREEZE WARNING FOR ZAPATA...JIM HOGG...BROOKS AND KENEDY
COUNTIES FOR LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES
SHOULD REBOUND DURING THE DAY FRIDAY AS CLEAR SKIES PROVIDE MAXIMUM
DIURNAL HEATING. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO WARM FRI NIGHT INTO
THE WEEKEND AS RETURN FLOW DEVELOPS AND A SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH FLOW
PERSISTS THROUGH MONDAY. MAY SEE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS MAINLY
ACROSS THE COASTAL SECTIONS THROUGH THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK
AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INCREASES WITH THE RETURN FLOW. A 500MB TROUGH
DEVELOPING ACROSS THE WESTERN UNITED STATES MONDAY MOVES EASTWARD
INTO THE CENTRAL U.S. TUESDAY BRINGING ANOTHER COLD FRONT THROUGH
SOUTH TX. THE GFS CONTINUES TO PROG MOST OF THE MOISTURE WELL
NORTHEAST OF THE AREA SO WILL ONLY MENTION A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTHEAST PORTIONS OF THE CWA TUESDAY FOR NOW.
DRIER AND COOLER AIR WILL PREVAIL WEDNESDAY BEFORE AN ONSHORE FLOW
RETURNS THURSDAY.
&&

.MARINE...BUOY 42020 REPORTED NORTH-NORTHWEST WINDS AROUND 29 KNOTS
GUSTING TO AROUND 33 KNOTS WITH SEAS OF 8.5 FEET WITH A PERIOD OF 6
SECONDS AT 19 CST/01 UTC. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT
FOR THE ADJACENT GULF OF MEXICO WATERS THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING
DUE TO STRONG WINDS AND ROUGH SEAS IN THE WAKE OF A COLD FRONT.
MODERATE WINDS AND SEAS ARE FORECAST LATER FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH
MONDAY NIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO INTERACTS WITH
A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. THE PASSAGE OF A COLD
FRONT NEXT TUESDAY MORNING WILL POSSIBLY REQUIRE ANOTHER SMALL CRAFT
ADVISORY TO BE ISSUED.
&&

.AVIATION...DIMINISHING WINDS AND CLEAR SKIES ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT
AS HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVER THE REGION. WINDS WILL INCREASE AND
VEER TO THE SOUTHEAST TOMORROW AS THE HIGH SHIFTS FARTHER EAST.
&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL  42  65  55  76 /   0   0   0  10
BROWNSVILLE          41  69  55  76 /   0   0   0  10
HARLINGEN            35  70  53  78 /   0   0   0  10
MCALLEN              38  70  53  78 /   0   0   0  10
RIO GRANDE CITY      36  71  51  76 /   0   0   0  10
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND   45  59  56  70 /   0   0   0  10
&&

.BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SCA GMZ150-155-170-175 UNTIL 6 AM CST FRI.
&&

THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BROWNSVILLE

SYNOPTIC/GRIDS...PHILO 58
MARINE/AVIATION...66
MESO...VEGA

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 31, 7:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
730 PM CST THU JAN 31 2008

TXZ248>257-011200-
ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY-
INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON-
730 PM CST THU JAN 31 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

A FREEZE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ZAPATA...JIM HOGG...BROOKS...
AND KENEDY COUNTY. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR
THE ADJACENT GULF OF MEXICO WATERS. AND...THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF
RIP CURRENTS AT THE BEACHES OF SOUTH PADRE ISLAND AND BOCA CHICA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

THE FREEZE WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM CST FRIDAY.
THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR THE ADJACENT GULF OF MEXICO WATERS
WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST FRIDAY. ANOTHER SMALL CRAFT
ADVISORY IS POSSIBLE TUESDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT AS WINDS AND
SEAS INCREASE IN THE WAKE OF A COLD FRONT. AND...A MODERATE TO
HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT THE LOCAL BEACHES IS EXPECTED FOR
THE FORECAST PERIOD.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED.

TOMASELLI

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Jim Hogg

When: February 1, 12:00 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where: Jim Hogg forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service
Coordinates: 27.043, -98.697 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A fire, located on Jones Ranch, 20 miles south of Farm to Market Road 1017 burned approximately 6,400 acres between January 31st and February 1st, but was contained. An incident command post was established at the site on the 31st, and numerous local Volunteer Fire Departments, county emergency management personnel, the Texas Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, responded to requests for aid.

Wildfire, Hidalgo

When: February 1, 12:00 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Hidalgo forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service
Coordinates: 26.397, -98.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 1,400 acre fire located at US Highway 281 and Farm to Market Road 1017 was contained sometime late on February 1st, it is believed. Ten homes were threatened and saved. The Texas Civil Air Patrol (TXCAP) provided air reconnaissance; several local Fire Departments responded. Illegal burning by a landowner started the fire.

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 Texas in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, February 2008

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: 85192, 85206.