Elevated fire weather conditions prevailed due to a combination of low relative humidity values and wind gusts from the south at 15 to 20 mph. The drought has also increased the supply of dry fuels.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS SJT wrote it up.
Elevated fire weather conditions prevailed due to a combination of low relative humidity values and wind gusts from the south at 15 to 20 mph. The drought has also increased the supply of dry fuels.
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 San Angelo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 24, 11:49 AM CST, 2 hours 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1149 AM CST TUE FEB 24 2009 .DISCUSSION... CURRENT GRIDS/ZONES LOOK GOOD. NO UPDATE PLANNED AT THIS TIME. 18Z AVIATION DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE FOR NEXT 24 HRS. SW WINDS TODAY WITH A FEW HIGHER GUSTS...SHOULD TAPER DOWN AFTER SUNSET. OTHERWISE...ONLY HIGH CLOUDS EXPECTED. 11/KEISER && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 459 AM CST TUE FEB 24 2009/ AVIATION... /1200Z UPDATE/ VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE OVER ALL OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS. WINDS WILL GENERALLY BE SOUTHWESTERLY TODAY GUSTING TO AROUND 20 KTS BY LATE MORNING. WINDS WILL BECOME LIGHT THIS EVENING AND THROUGH THE NIGHT. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 347 AM CST TUE FEB 24 2009/ DISCUSSION... VERY WARM TEMPERATURES EXPECTED THE NEXT FEW DAYS. FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BE THE PRIMARY CONCERN THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. FLAT RIDGING/NEAR ZONAL FLOW IS OVER THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING. THIS IS BRINGING QUITE A FEW UPPER LEVEL CLOUDS ACROSS THE AREA WHICH HAS SERVED TO KEEP THE LOWER LEVELS FAIRLY WELL MIXED... KEEPING WINDS UP AND TEMPERATURES WARM ACROSS THE CWA. MANY AREAS STILL HAVEN/T REACHED THE 30 PERCENT RELATIVE HUMIDITY MARK. WE WILL SEE THESE UPPER LEVEL CLOUDS THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS...WITH CLEARING FOR NORTHERN AREAS INDICATED BY DRYING MID/UPPER LEVEL RH FIELDS IN 00Z MODEL DATA. CAN ALSO SEE THIS DRYING MAKE ITS WAY EAST THIS MORNING IN WV SATELLITE IMAGERY ACROSS NORTHERN AZ/NM. THIS CLEARING SHOULD ALLOW FOR GOOD SUN TO REACH THE SURFACE DURING THE AFTERNOON TODAY WHICH WILL COMBINE WITH WESTERN DOWNSLOPING WINDS AND DRY AIR TO GIVE THE AREA NEAR RECORD WARMTH. RECORD HIGHS FOR KSJT AND KABI RESPECTIVELY ARE 94 AND 91. WHILE WE DON/T EXPECT THESE RECORDS TO BE BROKEN...THEY WILL LIKELY BE APPROACHED. WHILE IT WILL BE VERY HOT AND DRY TODAY...WINDS SHOULD ACTUALLY WEAKEN THROUGHOUT THE DAY AS WE LOSE THE LLJ DURING THE MORNING HOURS. BOTH GFS AND NAM SHOW A SFC LOW DEVELOPING NEAR CHILDRESS BY THE AFTERNOON HOURS...WITH A WEAK SFC PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE CWA DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. WINDS AROUND 15 MPH WITH GUSTS NEAR 20 MPH DURING THE AFTERNOON ARE EXPECTED. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH TO BE CANCELLED AS WE SHOULD NOT REACH RED FLAG CRITERIA. ON WEDNESDAY...WE WILL AGAIN BE WARM...WITH WINDS DEVELOPING OUT OF THE SOUTH AS THE SFC TROUGH DEVELOPS FARTHER WEST IN EASTERN NEW MEXICO. THIS WILL ADVECT SOME MORE MOISTURE NORTHWARD...BUT TEMPERATURES WILL STILL WARM INTO THE 80S ONCE AGAIN. ON THURSDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE NORTHERN PLAINS/GREAT LAKES REGIONS WILL RESULT IN SFC CYCLOGENESIS FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS INTO THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR WESTERLY SFC FLOW TO BE IN PHASE WITH WESTERN FLOW ALOFT...GIVING THE AREA A CHANCE TO SEE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ONCE AGAIN. WINDS MAY BE LIMITED DUE TO THE SFC TROUGH AXIS MOVING ACROSS THE REGION. HOWEVER BEHIND THE DRY LINE/SFC TROUGH...MIXING WILL ALLOW STRONG WINDS FROM ALOFT TO REACH THE SURFACE. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT OR FRIDAY MORNING... COOLING THE AREA DOWN FOR FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND. EXACT TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THE FRONT IS STILL UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME. BUT WE SHOULD COOL BACK DOWN TO NEAR NORMAL OR COOLER TEMPERATURES FOR THE WEEKEND. GFS TRIES TO GENERATE SOME VERY LIGHT QPF...BUT WE ARE NOT OPTIMISTIC CONSIDERING THE DRY PATTERN WE HAVE BEEN IN. WE MAY SEE ANOTHER FRONT MOVE THROUGH THE AREA OVER THE WEEKEND AS THE ECMWF IS SHOWING ANOTHER STRONG FRONT IMPACTING TEXAS SATURDAY. HOWEVER...THE ECMWF HAS THIS FRONT MOVING THROUGH AS A RESULT OF A COMPACT CLOSED LOW MOVING QUICKLY SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE PLAINS. THE GFS AND DGEX BOTH SHOW A TROUGH MOVING SOUTHEAST BUT A MUCH WEAKER VERSION...AND AT A MUCH SLOWER SPEED...SO WILL HOLD OFF ON FURTHER LOWERING TEMPERATURES FOR SUNDAY THAN NEAR NORMAL VALUES. FIRE WEATHER... WE WILL SEE NEAR CRITICAL VALUES ONCE AGAIN TODAY AS VERY WARM TEMPERATURES WILL ALLOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES TO FALL TO AROUND 10 PERCENT AGAIN FOR WESTERN AREAS. ONCE AGAIN...THE WINDS ARE MARGINAL AS FAR AS MEETING RED FLAG CRITERIA. SURFACE PRESSURE FIELDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE WEAK DURING THE AFTERNOON WHEN THE RH VALUES WILL HIT THEIR LOWS. WITH THESE WEAK SFC PRESSURE FIELDS...WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH AROUND 15 MPH SUSTAINED AT 20 FEET...WITH GUSTS OVER 20 MPH. THEREFORE...WE WILL CANCEL THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR THE BIG COUNTRY TODAY. VERY WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO ELEVATE FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK AS RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL FALL BELOW 20 PERCENT GENERALLY WEST OF AN ABILENE TO JUNCTION LINE EACH DAY. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE QUESTION CONCERNING RED FLAG CRITERIA THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. THURSDAY APPEARS TO BE THE NEXT DAY WITH CRITICAL CONDITIONS POSSIBLE AS A DRY LINE WILL MOVE THROUGH ALLOWING FOR DEEP MIXING DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS THAT WILL BRING STRONGER WINDS TO THE SURFACE. THE REST OF THE WEEK WILL BE MONITORED CLOSELY FOR POSSIBLE RED FLAG CONDITIONS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ABILENE 88 48 87 56 81 / 0 0 0 0 0 SAN ANGELO 89 51 88 56 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 JUNCTION 84 48 82 55 83 / 0 0 0 0 0 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 412 AM CST TUE FEB 24 2009 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-251015- FISHER-NOLAN-STERLING-COKE-RUNNELS-IRION-TOM GREEN-CONCHO- CROCKETT-SCHLEICHER-SUTTON-HASKELL-THROCKMORTON-JONES-SHACKELFORD- TAYLOR-CALLAHAN-COLEMAN-BROWN-MCCULLOCH-SAN SABA-MENARD-KIMBLE- MASON- 412 AM CST TUE FEB 24 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MOST OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS TODAY AS RELATIVE HUMIDITIES DROP TO 10 TO 20 PERCENT... ESPECIALLY WEST OF A LINE FROM JUNCTION TO BROWNWOOD. AREA RESIDENTS ARE DISCOURAGED FROM ACTIVITIES THAT MAY RESULT IN FLAMES OR SPARKS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY ACROSS PRIMARILY THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF THE AREA WITH WELL ABOVE NORMAL AFTERNOON HIGHS... MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITY DROPPING TO LESS THAN 20 PERCENT...AND WINDS IN THE 10 TO 15 MPH RANGE WITH HIGHER GUSTS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. 15
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Range fires in Runnels County burned a total of 500 acres near County Roads 130, 164 and FM 382. However, one house, three hunting cabins, and one barn were threatened and saved.
This wildfire destroyed two homes and nine outbuildings. About 100 homes were saved by fire fighters. The wildfire was located east of FM 603 and between county roads 258 and 254, and the blaze burned about 700 acres.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, February 2009
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: 156510, 156501.