The combination of very dry air and gusty winds provided conditions conducive to a wildfire.
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.
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.
The combination of very dry air and gusty winds provided conditions conducive to a wildfire.
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 Mar 5, 12:15 PM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1215 PM CST THU MAR 5 2009 .UPDATE... ANOTHER WARM DAY ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...INCREASED THE DAYTIME TEMPERATURES A FEW DEGREES. CURRENT TEMPERATURES ARE ALREADY 5 DEGREES WARMER THAN THIS HOUR YESTERDAY. THE REST OF THE FORECAST IS ON TRACK. && .DISCUSSION... 00Z AVIATION DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED TODAY WITH STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS AND HIGHER GUSTS. WINDS AFTER SUNSET SHIFT TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST. A MODERATE LOW LEVEL JET 30-35 KTS WILL DEVELOP DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...WILL NOT INCLUDE LLWS AT THIS TIME AS SURFACE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE GREATER THAN 10KTS. GULF MOISTURE RETURN WILL BRING BACK STRATUS OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE REGION WITH MVFR/IFR AFFECTING THE SOUTHERN TAF SITES. MAY HAVE TO UPDATE TO INCLUDE KSJT/KABI. LOW LEVEL CLOUDS EXPECTED TO LIFT AFTER 17Z AND STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS RETURN...HOWEVER MID LEVEL STRATUS WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE REGION FRIDAY. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 536 AM CST THU MAR 5 2009/ DISCUSSION... /SEE 12Z AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW/ AVIATION... STRATUS WITH MVFR/IFR ALONG THE I-10 CORRIDOR AT KSOA AND KJCT AND JUST SOUTH OF KBBD WILL SCATTER OUT MID MORNING. MAY SEE A FEW PATCHES NEAR KSJT 14-15Z. SIMILAR CONDITIONS FOR TONIGHT WITH IFR/MVFR STRATUS REDEVELOPING AFTER MIDNIGHT AND TOWARDS MORNING OVER SOUTHERN SECTIONS. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 346 AM CST THU MAR 5 2009/ SHORT TERM... A HOT DAY IS IN STORE FOR MUCH OF WC TX WITH NEAR RECORD HIGHS POSSIBLE TODAY. WARM READINGS COMBINED WITH STRONG WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY AND THE NORTHWEST CONCHO VALLEY HAS FORCED US TO ISSUE A RED FLAG WARNING FOR TODAY. SEE BELOW. MAY HAVE TO ISSUE A LAKE WIND ADVISORY ALSO. AS THE UPPER TROF CONTINUES TO APPROACH WC TX...SHOULD SEE BEST CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ACROSS THE NW HILL COUNTRY. LONG TERM... THE FORECAST BECOMES MORE UNPREDICTABLE FROM MONDAY AND BEYOND AS LONG RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THE UPPER LEVEL FEATURES. THE LATEST ENSEMBLE MEAN GUIDANCE SEEMS TO BE MORE SIMILAR TO THE ECMWF WHICH HAS A DEEPER AND SLOW MOVING UPPER TROF VERSUS THE MORE SHALLOW AND FASTER GFS SOLUTION. HOWEVER...BOTH MODELS AGREE THAT AN ARCTIC HIGH SHOULD REACH WC TX NEXT TUESDAY. HAVE TRENDED TEMPS COOLER. NOW IF THE ECMWF HOLDS TRUE...COULD SEE COLDER WEATHER AND SOME RAIN FROM TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. STAY TUNED. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ABILENE 89 60 85 61 78 / 0 0 0 10 10 SAN ANGELO 90 58 82 61 78 / 0 0 0 10 10 JUNCTION 87 57 82 61 80 / 10 0 10 10 10 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: CALLAHAN...COKE...FISHER...HASKELL...JONES...NOLAN... SHACKELFORD...STERLING...TAYLOR...THROCKMORTON. LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: CALLAHAN...HASKELL...JONES...NOLAN...TAYLOR. && 12/12
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 426 AM CST THU MAR 5 2009 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-061030- 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- 426 AM CST THU MAR 5 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT FIRE DANGER WILL REACH CRITICAL LEVELS ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY AND NORTHERN CONCHO VALLEY TODAY. RED FLAG WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF A STERLING CITY...ROBERT LEE TO CROSS PLAINS LINE THIS AFTERNOON. WILDFIRE DANGER WILL BE ELEVATED OVER THE REST OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. AVOID OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES THAT MIGHT RESULT IN OPEN FLAMES OR SPARKS. CIGARETTES SHOULD BE DISPOSED OF PROPERLY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY FIRE DANGER WILL BE ELEVATED FRIDAY AND THIS WEEKEND...WITH GUSTY SOUTH WINDS AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A wildfire burned three hundred acres near Tuscola. Two homes and one outbuilding were destroyed.
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, March 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: 159643.