Wildfire in Texas, April 30, 2009

Name: Wildfire in Texas, April 30, 2009
Start: 2009-04-30T11:00
End: 2009-04-30T18:00
Location: Texas

April 30, 2009 · NWS BRO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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
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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 BRO wrote it up.

Persistent high pressure over the central Gulf of Mexico, combined with the semi-permanent trough of low pressure across west Texas into northern Mexico, continued to result in breezy to windy conditions, along with hot temperatures, in Deep South Texas. The combination of these weather conditions with critically dry fuels, and afternoon humidity falling below 40 percent likely aided the rapid spread of a wild fire in north central Jim Hogg County during the late morning and early afternoon of April 30th. Southeast winds gusted over 30 mph at times during the morning, and may have contributed to the spread rate.

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 Apr 30, 8:00 AM CST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 8:00 AM CST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
900 AM CDT THU APR 30 2009

.DISCUSSION...WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE MODERATE TO STRONG FROM THE
SOUTHEAST TODAY...ALTHOUGH BOTH THE GFS AND THE NAM SHOWS WINDS JUST
BELOW WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA.  WILL LEAVE FORECAST THE SAME AT THIS
TIME WITH BREEZY CONDITIONS OVER THE AREA FOR THE ENTIRE DAY.  WINDS
SHOULD DECREASE ON FRIDAY WITH UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING ACROSS
NORTH TEXAS AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND.  WINDS SHOULD DECREASE
ON MONDAY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS AT THAT
TIME.  BRO SOUNDING THIS MORNING SHOWED A PRECIP WATER OF 1.36 AND A
K-INDEX OF 9.  PREVIOUS FORECAST PACKAGE LOOKS GOOD AT THIS TIME.
NO UPDATES NEEDED AT THIS TIME.
&&

.MARINE...AT 7 AM BUOY 20 REPORTED SOUTHEAST WINDS AT 14 KNOTS WITH
GUSTS TO 16 KNOTS AND SEAS AT 5.9 FEET WITH A 7 SECOND PERIOD. THE
WINDS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE LAGUNA MADRE TODAY THEREFORE A SMALL
CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 6 PM THIS EVENING. A SMALL CRAFT
ADVISORY IS LIKELY ACROSS THE LAGUNA MADRE AGAIN ON FRIDAY. THE
WINDS AND SEAS WILL INCREASE THIS WEEKEND AND A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY
IS LIKELY ACROSS THE OFFSHORE GULF OF MEXICO COASTAL WATERS FRIDAY
NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY.
&&

.AVIATION...MVFR CONDITIONS WITH LIGHT TO MODERATE SOUTHEASTERLY
WINDS ARE BEING REPORTED AT THE REGIONAL AIRPORTS. THE WINDS WILL
INCREASE FROM THE SOUTHEAST TODAY BECOMING MODERATE AND GUSTY. THE
SKIES WILL BE MOSTLY CLOUDY ALONG THE COASTAL COUNTIES THIS MORNING
THEN PARTLY CLOUDY THIS AFTERNOON.
&&

BRO...SCA FOR GMZ130-132-135 UNTIL 6PM.
&&

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

65/63

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 30, 10:51 AM CST, 9 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1151 AM CDT THU APR 30 2009

GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-TXZ248>257-011100-
LAGUNA MADRE FROM THE PORT OF BROWNSVILLE TO THE ARROYO COLORADO-
LAGUNA MADRE FROM THE ARROYO COLORADO TO 5 NM NORTH OF PORT
MANSFIELD TX-
LAGUNA MADRE FROM 5 NM NORTH OF PORT MANSFIELD TO BAFFIN BAY TX-
COASTAL WATERS FROM PORT MANSFIELD TO THE RIO GRANDE OUT 20 NM-
COASTAL WATERS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT MANSFIELD OUT 20 NM-
WATERS FROM PORT MANSFIELD TO THE RIO GRANDE EXTENDING FROM 20 TO
60 NM-
WATERS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT MANSFIELD EXTENDING FROM 20 TO
60 NM-ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY-
INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON-
1151 AM CDT THU APR 30 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS...THE GULF
OF MEXICO AND THE LAGUNA MADRE.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE LAGUNA MADRE AND
OFFSHORE GULF OF MEXICO COASTAL WATERS THE WINDS WILL REMAIN AROUND
20 KNOTS THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING. THERE IS ALSO A HIGH RISK FOR
RIP CURRENTS ALONG AREA BEACHES TODAY AND TONIGHT.

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

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE LIKELY ACROSS THE LAGUNA MADRE AND OFFSHORE
GULF OF MEXICO COASTAL WATERS OVER THE WEEKEND FOR WINDS OF 20 TO
25 KNOTS AND SEAS OFFSHORE UP TO 10 FEET.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

MARTIN

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, Jim Hogg

When: April 30, 11:00 AM CST to 6:00 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 wild fire rapidly spread out of control near Randado, between State Highway 16 and Farm-to-Market Road 649. The fire, which spread to 500 acres, was eventually contained. Assistance in fighting the blaze was provided by Texas Forest Service, Helo-Tanker, Air Strike Team, U.S. Parks and Wildlife; Jim Hogg, Zapata, and Starr County Fire Deparments responded, as did the Roma Volunteer Fire Department (Starr). Texas Forest Service sent four bulldozers to help put out 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 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, April 2009

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: 168246.