Name: Wildfire in Texas, July 13 to 15, 2011
Start: 2011-07-13T17:00
End: 2011-07-15T19:00
Location: Texas

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.

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Wind
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $72,000
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 FWD wrote it up.

The Gunn Road Fire was intentionally set on July 13th along FM 917 just southwest of Joshua. The fire burned 80 acres, was contained on the evening of the 13th, and controlled on the evening of the 15th. One vacant home and one other structure was lost in this fire. Very hot and dry conditions this month resulted in elevated fire danger.

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 Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 13, 2:28 PM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 2:28 PM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
328 PM CDT WED JUL 13 2011

.DISCUSSION...
THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH CENTERED OVER THE STATE WILL DOMINATE THE
WEATHER THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND THEN A SHIFT OF THE UPPER HIGH TO
THE NORTH MAY ALLOW FOR ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS NEXT WEEK.

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE
NEAR THE RED RIVER FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. IT IS UNLIKELY THAT ANY
OF THE CONVECTION WILL REACH SEVERE LIMITS BUT GUSTY WINDS MAY
OCCUR AROUND ANY THUNDERSTORMS. THE CONVECTION SHOULD DISSIPATE BY
THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. ANOTHER WARM NIGHT IS IN STORE FOR ALL OF
NORTH TEXAS AND HIGH TEMPERATURES ON THURSDAY WILL LIKELY TOP OUT
WARMER THAN TODAY. DEWPOINTS THIS AFTERNOON HAVE MIXED OUT TO THE
LOWER 50S TO LOWER 60S ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION AND MAY MIX OUT
TO SIMILAR VALUES TOMORROW AFTERNOON. DESPITE THE INCREASED
MIXING...HEAT INDEX VALUES AROUND 105 DEGREES ARE STILL EXPECTED
OVER MOST OF THE ADVISORY AREA TOMORROW SO THE ADVISORY WILL
CONTINUE AS IS THROUGH TOMORROW EVENING.

WITH THE EXPANSIVE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER THE
CENTRAL CONUS AND STRENGTHEN TO NEARLY 600 DM BY THE END OF THE
WEEK...THE TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL
DAYS. DFW AND WACO HAVE ALREADY PASSED 100 DEGREES FOR THE
DAY...INCREASING THE CONSECUTIVE NUMBER OF DEGREE DAYS FOR DFW TO
12 DAYS AND 14 CONSECUTIVE DAYS FOR WACO. IN THE PAST 113
YEARS...THIS IS THE 2ND WARMEST JUNE 1ST THROUGH JULY 13TH ON
RECORD FOR DFW...ONLY SECOND TO 1980.

HAVE MAINTAINED SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON OVER THE
EAST AS A WEAK DISTURBANCE CURRENTLY OVER NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA MOVES
SOUTH ALONG THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE RIDGE. OVER THE WEEKEND...THE
CENTER OF THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL SHIFT NORTH SETTING UP
EASTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER NORTH TEXAS. THE EASTERLY FLOW WILL BRING
AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE OVER MUCH OF THE REGION. THE MODELS
INDICATE SEVERAL MORE WEAK DISTURBANCES MAY MOVE WEST ACROSS NORTH
TEXAS THIS WEEKEND AND NEXT WEEK. WITH THE WEAKNESSES ALOFT AND
MOISTURE CONTENT ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR...AFTERNOON
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ANY OF THESE DAYS. THEREFORE...WILL
CARRY 20 POPS IN THE AFTERNOON HOURS THROUGH THE EXTENDED PART OF
THE FORECAST. HOWEVER...THE INFLUENCE OF THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE ON
TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE WITH UPPER 90S TO AROUND 100 DEGREE
HIGH TEMPERATURES FORECASTED NEXT WEEK.

82/JLD

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX  84 102  82 101  82 /   5  10  10  20  10
WACO, TX              79 104  80 102  81 /   5   5  10  20  10
PARIS, TX             79 101  79 100  79 /  10  20  10  20  10
DENTON, TX            81 101  79 101  80 /  10   5   5  20  10
MCKINNEY, TX          80 100  78 100  79 /  10  10  10  20  10
DALLAS, TX            84 102  82 101  83 /   5  10  10  20  10
TERRELL, TX           80  99  79  99  79 /  10  20  10  20  10
CORSICANA, TX         79 100  79  99  80 /  10  20  10  20  10
TEMPLE, TX            75 101  76 100  77 /   5  10  10  20  10
MINERAL WELLS, TX     79 106  79 105  78 /   5   5   5  10  10

&&

.FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM CDT THURSDAY FOR TXZ091>095-102>107-
117>120-131>134-144-145-157>160.

&&

69/82

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 13, 2:35 PM CST, 2 hours 25 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
335 PM CDT WED JUL 13 2011

TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-141200-
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-
335 PM CDT WED JUL 13 2011

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

A HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR AREAS ALONG THE INTERSTATE 35
CORRIDOR AND FOR AREAS AROUND AND NORTHEAST OF THE METROPLEX.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING FOR AREAS NORTHWEST OF A NEWCASTLE...JACKSBORO...GAINSVILLE
LINE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

THE HEAT ADVISORY WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR AREAS ALONG THE
INTERSTATE 35 CORRIDOR AND FOR AREAS AROUND AND NORTHEAST OF THE
METROPLEX THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE
POSSIBLE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS THURSDAY THROUGH
SATURDAY...MAINLY EAST OF INTERSTATE 35. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS MONDAY AND
TUESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

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, Johnson

When: July 13, 5:00 PM CST to July 15, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Johnson forecast zone
Injuries: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Property damage: $72,000
Reported by: Park/Forest Service
Coordinates: 32.379, -97.366 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Gunn Road Fire began in the early evening hours of July 13th along FM 917 just southwest of Joshua. Two grass fires were intentionally set by an arsonist, and the fire merged into one blaze. The fire burned 80 acres, was contained on the evening of the 13th, and controlled on the evening of the 15th. One vacant home was lost in this fire, another structure was also lost, and one firefighter was hospitalized for heat exhaustion.

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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, July 2011

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: 332129.