Wildfire in Oklahoma, March 26, 2010

Name: Wildfire in Oklahoma, March 26, 2010
Start: 2010-03-26T12:54
End: 2010-03-26T20:30
Location: Oklahoma

March 26, 2010 · NWS AMA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A wildfire began around 1254 CST about eight miles east of Elmwood in Beaver County in the eastern Oklahoma Panhandle. The wildfire consumed an estimated four hundred acres and destroyed one residence.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $90,000
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 AMA 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 Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 26, 11:05 AM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 26, 11:05 AM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1205 PM CDT FRI MAR 26 2010

.AVIATION...
VERY TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING WILL RESULT IN
STRONG SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 30 KNOTS AT ALL THREE TAF
SITES. COLD FRONT WILL PUSH EAST ACROSS THE DALHART AND GUYMON TAF
SITES BETWEEN 05Z AND 08Z SATURDAY...AND ACROSS THE AMARILLO TAF SITE
BETWEEN 09Z AND 11Z SATURDAY. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST AND
NORTH BEHIND THE FRONT. VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH TONIGHT WITH
INCREASING MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS. MVFR TO VFR CEILINGS SATURDAY
MORNING AFTER 12Z WITH POSSIBILITY FOR RAIN SHOWERS AT THE GUYMON TAF
SITE.

SCHNEIDER

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 720 AM CDT FRI MAR 26 2010/

UPDATE...
A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE SOUTHWEST COUINTIES OF THE
TEXAS PANHANDLE THROUGH 7 PM THIS EVENING. THE APPROACHING
DISTURBANCE WILL STRENGTHEN SOUTHWEST WINDS OVER THE PANHANDLES WHICH
IS EXPECTED TO BRING RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES DOWN TO 15 PERCENT OR
LOWER IN THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE.

21

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 641 AM CDT FRI MAR 26 2010/

AVIATION...
THE STORY OF THE DAY IS WIND. STRONG LL JET IN PLACE EVIDENT ON THE
TUCUMCARI PROFILER WITH 40 KNOTS JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE. ABUNDANT
HEATING TODAY SHOULD ALLOW MUCH OF THESE STRONG WINDS TO MIX TO THE
SURFACE. WIND SPEEDS IN KAMA ARE ALREADY SITTING NEAR 20 KNOTS SO
THINKING A GUST TO 40 KNOTS TODAY IS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE. WILL ISSUE
AN AVIATION WEATHER WARNING FOR THE AMARILLO AREA SOON.
ELSEWHERE...SLIGHTLY WEAKER GRADIENT EXPECTED OVER THE WESTERN
PANHANDLES SO THINKING KDHT WIND SPEEDS SHOULD BE 5 KNOTS OR SO
WEAKER THAN KAMA. KGUY WILL BE IN A SIMILAR BOAT AS KAMA THOUGH.
WINDS WILL WEAKEN SLIGHTLY OVERNIGHT TONIGHT...BUT EVEN STRONGER
WINDS ARE EXPECTED FOR SATURDAY ALONG WITH A WIND SHIFT TO THE
NORTHWEST. ALSO...THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT PRECIP TO DEVELOP
OVER KGUY TOMORROW MORNING...SO INSERTED A PROB30 GROUP FOR NOW. MAY
SEE SOME LIGHT SNOW MIXED IN WITH THE RAIN...BUT WILL HANDLE THAT
WITH FUTURE TAF ISSUANCE.

JJB

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 553 AM CDT FRI MAR 26 2010/

DISCUSSION...
AN APPROACHING DISTURBANCE WILL TIGHTEN THE PRESSURE GRADIENT AND
CAUSE WESTERLY WINDS TO BLOW TODAY. PACIFIC AIR WILL RIDE IN WITH
THIS SYSTEM AND BRING SOME RAIN SHOWERS TO THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS
PANHANDLES TONIGHT. COLDER AIR WILL BE PULLED SOUTHWARD BEHIND THIS
SYSTEM AND MAY BRING A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW TO THE OKLAHOMA AND
NORTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLES BY EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. LIGHT SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS ARE FORECAST IN THE WESTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE. THE
SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE QUICKLY OUT OF THE AREA BY LATE SATURDAY.

HIGH PRESSURE SHOULD DOMINATE DURING THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK AND
AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES COULD REACH THE HIGHEST VALUES SO FAR THIS
YEAR AROUND MID WEEK. ON THURSDAY...A WELL DEVELOPED TROUGH WILL MOVE
ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST US AND PULL PACIFIC MOISTURE INTO THE AREA. THIS
SYSTEM COULD SET THE STAGE FOR A ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
NO PRECIPITATION WAS INTRODUCED AT THIS TIME SINCE THE PATH OF THE
SYSTEM IS STILL UNCERTAIN.

FIRE WEATHER...
DRY WESTERLY WINDS WILL PUSH THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY DOWN NEAR OR BELOW
15 PERCENT IN THE WESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE FRIDAY AFTERNOON. A RED FLAG
WARNING MAY BE NEEDED LATER IF THE FIRE DANGER RATING INCREASE TO
HIGH LEVELS. THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE AND THE EASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE
SHOULD REMAIN OUTSIDE OF CRITICAL CONDITIONS...BUT MAY REQUIRE A FIRE
DANGER STATEMENT.

A STRONG WARMING TREND EARLY NEXT WEEK MAY LOWER THE HUMIDITY ONCE
AGAIN...BRING A RETURN TO FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS.

&&

.AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING
     ZONES: DEAF SMITH...OLDHAM...POTTER...RANDALL.

OK...NONE.

&&

11/05

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 26, 5:57 AM CST, 6 hours 57 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
657 AM CDT FRI MAR 26 2010

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-262100-
ARMSTRONG-BEAVER-CARSON-CIMARRON-COLLINGSWORTH-DALLAM-DEAF SMITH-
DONLEY-GRAY-HANSFORD-HARTLEY-HEMPHILL-HUTCHINSON-LIPSCOMB-MOORE-
OCHILTREE-OLDHAM-POTTER-RANDALL-ROBERTS-SHERMAN-TEXAS-WHEELER-
657 AM CDT FRI MAR 26 2010

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES.

.DAY ONE...

STRONG SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS
ALONG WITH MINIMUM AFTERNOON RELATIVE HUMIDITIES OF 10 TO 15 PERCENT
WILL CREATE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST
TEXAS PANHANDLE TODAY. A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE
SOUTHWEST TEXAS PANHANDLE THROUGH THIS EVENING. ELEVATED FIRE
WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE TEXAS AND
ALL OF THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES WHERE RELATIVE HUMIDITIES BETWEEN 20
AND 30 PERCENT AND STRONG SOUTH WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER
GUSTS ARE FORECAST TO OCCUR.

IN ADDITION...THE STRONG WINDS WILL REQUIRE BOATERS TO EXERCISE
CAUTION ON AREA LAKES TODAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

30 TO 40 MPH NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS WITH HIGHER GUSTS ARE EXPECTED
TO DEVELOP ON SATURDAY. THIS MAY REQUIRE A WIND ADVISORY ON SATURDAY
FOR MUCH OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

JJB

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, Beaver

When: March 26, 12:54 PM CST to 8:30 PM CST
Where: Beaver forecast zone
Property damage: $90,000
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 36.750, -100.477 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 Oklahoma in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, March 2010

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: 218111.