This wildfire was ignited by lightning about 14 miles northwest of Sweetwater. Once the fire was ignited, it was fueled by critical fire weather conditions.
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.
This wildfire was ignited by lightning about 14 miles northwest of Sweetwater. Once the fire was ignited, it was fueled by critical fire weather conditions.
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 May 8, 11:12 AM CST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1212 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 2011 .DISCUSSION... SEE 18Z AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. && .AVIATION... EXPECTING MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. WINDS THIS AFTERNOON WILL RANGE BETWEEN 10 AND 15 KNOTS WITH GUSTS UP TO AROUND 25 KNOTS AT TIMES OUT OF THE SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST. AFTER SUNSET...EXPECT WINDS TO DIMINISH LESS THAN 12 KNOTS FOR THE MOST PART. MODELS AGAIN HINT AT THE POTENTIAL FOR LOW CLOUDS FOR SOUTHERN SITES...BUT WILL ONLY SHOW A SCT GROUP AT 1800 FEET FOR NOW. THERE IS AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM THREAT THIS EVENING NEAR AND NORTHEAST OF KBBD...BUT THE COVERAGE IS EXPECTED TO QUITE SPARSE...SO WILL LEAVE MENTION OF THUNDERSTORMS OUT OF TAFS FOR NOW. 20 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ABILENE 69 98 71 98 67 / 20 0 10 10 20 SAN ANGELO 70 99 71 99 67 / 10 0 10 10 20 JUNCTION 73 92 70 97 69 / 10 10 10 10 20 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: COKE...FISHER...HASKELL...IRION...JONES...NOLAN... RUNNELS...STERLING...TAYLOR...TOM GREEN. && 99/99/99
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 721 AM CDT SUN MAY 8 2011 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-091230- 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- 721 AM CDT SUN MAY 8 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT INCREASING SOUTHWEST WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES AND HOT TEMPERATURES WILL RESULT IN CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ACROSS PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS TODAY. A RED FLAG WARNING IS EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...GENERALLY WEST OF A HASKELL...TO SAN ANGELO...TO SONORA LINE. CAUTION SHOULD BE EXERCISED BY AREA RESIDENTS TO PREVENT ACCIDENTAL WILDFIRES. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON GENERALLY EAST OF AN ABILENE...TO SAN ANGELO...TO OZONA LINE. ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP MAY BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE WITH THE MAIN HAZARDS BEING LARGE HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ELEVATED TO NEAR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THROUGH THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK AS VERY DRY CONDITIONS COMBINE WITH GUSTY WINDS. A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH MUCH OF THE WEEK. ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. DANIELS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Thirty-two homes, oil infrastructure and wind turbines were threatened on this lightning-caused fire 13 miles northwest of Sweetwater. Two structures were lost but the type of structures were unknown.
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, May 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: 315912.