Elevated fire weather conditions persisted for most of the month due to the extreme heat and the ongoing historic drought. Many wildfires occurred during the month burning over 40,000 acres of land, several homes, and lots of personal property.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 FWD wrote it up.
Elevated fire weather conditions persisted for most of the month due to the extreme heat and the ongoing historic drought. Many wildfires occurred during the month burning over 40,000 acres of land, several homes, and lots of personal property. From the 1st through the 5th, there were 6 grass fires that caused damage. The largest and most damaging of these fires was the 1701-acre Center City Fire that occurred in Mills County.
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 Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 1, 1:41 PM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 241 PM CDT MON AUG 1 2011 .DISCUSSION... THE STRONG UPPER HIGH AND ASSOCIATED RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE AND PROVIDE RECORD OR NEAR RECORD HEAT ACROSS NORTH TEXAS THROUGH THURSDAY OR EVEN FRIDAY. THE UPPER HIGH REMAINS IN CONTROL FROM THE SW STATES...CLEAR ACROSS THE SOUTHERN/CENTRAL PLAINS AND OVER THE MID/LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. OUTSIDE OF A ROGUE SHOWER OR STORM ACROSS THE FAR E/SE COUNTIES WITHIN DEEP MOISTURE PLUME ACROSS EAST TX...THE SUBSIDENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER RIDGE SHOULD SHUNT THE DEEPEST MOISTURE SLIGHTLY FURTHER EAST AND GENERALLY INDICATE AN END TO ANY RAIN CHANCES ACROSS NORTH TEXAS THROUGH THIS COMING WEEKEND. REGARDING THE HEAT...WE ARE EXPECTING RECORD TEMPERATURES WITH A LEAN TOWARD THE NAM MODEL WITH A WARMER THERMAL RIDGE PER 1000-850MB THICKNESSES PER CURRENT TRENDS. WE HAVE UPDATED THE CLIMATE DISCUSSION BELOW FOR THE NEW NORMALS AND RECORD HIGHS THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK...ALONG WITH THE NEW FORECAST HIGH TEMPERATURES. RURAL/OUTLYING AREAS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GO CALM FOR AN HOUR OR TWO RIGHT AROUND SUNRISE...ALLOWING LOWS TO QUICKLY DIP SEVERAL DEGREES TOWARD PROJECTED LOW TEMPERATURE FORECASTS. THE LOW TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN LOWER THAN THE MOS/BIAS-CORRECTED FORECASTS AND MORE TOWARD THE OPERATIONAL MAV MOS/MEX MOS NUMBERS AND WE WILL CONTINUE WITH A LEAN TOWARD THE OPERATIONAL NUMBERS FOR THE TIME BEING FOR OVERNIGHT LOWS. NEXT WEEKEND AND BEYOND...THE UPPER HIGH MAY DAMPEN SOMEWHAT WITH WESTERLIES AMPLIFYING SLIGHTLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER OF THE COUNTRY. THESE TRENDS SHOULD ALLOW A DEEPER FETCH OF MOISTURE BACK ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE REGION. AS A RESULT...HIGHS SHOULD COOL SOMEWHAT ALONG WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF LOW RAIN CHANCES RETURNING BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. 05/ && .CLIMATE... AS A REMINDER...TODAY WE SWITCH THE 30 YEAR PERIOD OF RECORD USED TO CALCULATE THE NORMALS FROM 1971-2000 TO 1981-2010. YOU WILL NOTICE A DIFFERENCE FROM THE RUNNING YEARLY DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL. RECORD HIGHS AND FORECAST HIGHS FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK AT DFW ARE: DATE RECORD YEAR/S FORECAST* AUGUST 2 107 1998 108 AUGUST 3 107 2008 108 AUGUST 4 107 1951 107 AUGUST 5 106 1964, 56, 51 107 AUGUST 6 109 2003 105 AUGUST 7 106 1988, 53, 51 104 RECORD HIGHS AND FORECAST HIGHS FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK AT WACO ARE: DATE RECORD YEAR/S FORECAST* AUGUST 2 106 1998 107 AUGUST 3 107 1998 107 AUGUST 4 106 1951 107 AUGUST 5 106 2001, 87, 64 105 AUGUST 6 105 1988, 82, 52 105 AUGUST 7 107 1988 104 *ISSUED DURING THE AFTERNOON ON AUGUST 1. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 83 108 83 108 83 / 0 0 0 0 0 WACO, TX 80 107 80 107 80 / 5 0 0 0 0 PARIS, TX 79 107 80 107 80 / 5 0 0 0 0 DENTON, TX 79 109 80 108 81 / 0 0 0 0 0 MCKINNEY, TX 77 108 78 107 80 / 0 0 0 0 0 DALLAS, TX 84 108 84 107 84 / 0 0 0 0 0 TERRELL, TX 78 107 79 106 80 / 5 0 0 0 0 CORSICANA, TX 78 106 79 106 80 / 5 0 0 0 0 TEMPLE, TX 77 105 77 105 78 / 5 0 0 0 0 MINERAL WELLS, TX 77 110 78 109 79 / 0 0 0 0 0 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING UNTIL 9 PM CDT THURSDAY FOR TXZ091>095- 100>107-115>123-131>135-145>148-158>162-174-175. HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM CDT THURSDAY FOR TXZ129-130-141>144-156- 157. && 05/
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 343 PM CDT MON AUG 1 2011 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-021200- MONTAGUE-COOKE-GRAYSON-FANNIN-LAMAR-YOUNG-JACK-WISE-DENTON-COLLIN- HUNT-DELTA-HOPKINS-STEPHENS-PALO PINTO-PARKER-TARRANT-DALLAS- ROCKWALL-KAUFMAN-VAN ZANDT-RAINS-EASTLAND-ERATH-HOOD-SOMERVELL- JOHNSON-ELLIS-HENDERSON-COMANCHE-MILLS-HAMILTON-BOSQUE-HILL-NAVARRO- FREESTONE-ANDERSON-LAMPASAS-CORYELL-BELL-MCLENNAN-FALLS-LIMESTONE- LEON-MILAM-ROBERTSON- 343 PM CDT MON AUG 1 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF NORTH TEXAS...EXCEPT FOR THE AREA SOUTHWEST OF A LINE FROM BRECKENRIDGE...TO HILLSBORO...TO KILLEEN WHERE A HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE EAST OF A LINE FROM BONHAM...TO TERRELL...TO CORSICANA...TO HEARNE. ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FOR MOST OF THE AREA WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY. OUTSIDE OF THE WARNING AREA...A HEAT ADVISORY IS ALSO IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. CAVANAUGH
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
320 PM CDT MON AUG 01 2011
..TIME.. ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE.. ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0255 PM EXCESSIVE HEAT PARIS 33.65N 95.53W
08/01/2011 M106 F LAMAR TX AWOS
111 HEAT INDEXPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
322 PM CDT MON AUG 01 2011
..TIME.. ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE.. ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0256 PM EXCESSIVE HEAT KILLEEN 31.13N 97.73W
08/01/2011 E108 F BELL TX AWOS
113 HEAT INDEX AT FORT HOODThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Post Oak Fire began on August 1st, was contained on the 3rd, and fully controlled on the 4th. The fire started approximately 9 miles north of Jacksboro and burned 571 acres.
A 30-acre fire on CR 3830 in Adamsville burned several metal barns, two cars, and some farm equipment.
A 60-acre fire in Kempner on CR 4772 off FM 2657 burned one car.
A small 5-acre fire in the 7800 block of Silverado Loop in Kaufman burned a home.
A 1701-acre grass fire started in Center City along Hwy 84 by a car that likely blew a tire. The blaze began on the 5th, was contained on the 6th, and the fully controlled on the 8th. The fire burned two houses, 8 mobile homes, two sheds, several other barns, and some bales of round hay.
A small acre fire just off Hwy 36 in Rogers destroyed a vacant mobile home. It was believed that a piece of farm equipment may have sparked the fire.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2011
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: 342879, 343611, 343612, 344689, 343623, 342916.