A cold front brought strong northeast winds and dry air to create ideal conditions for these wildifires to develop in late September.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
A cold front brought strong northeast winds and dry air to create ideal conditions for these wildifires to develop in late September.
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 Sep 26, 5:33 PM CST, 2 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 633 PM CDT MON SEP 26 2011 .UPDATE... SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE CONTINUING TO DEVELOP ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 20. THIS ACTIVITY WILL LIKELY DISSIPATE BY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WITH SURFACE DEWPOINTS MAINLY IN THE 30 AND 40S ACROSS MOST OF THIS AREA...LOOK FOR MAINLY TRACE AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL...AS MOST WILL LIKELY EVAPORATE BEFORE IT REACHES THE GROUND. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WILL BE ACROSS THE HEARTLAND WHERE SURFACE DEWPOINTS ARE AROUND 50. THE MAIN DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THIS ACTIVITY APPEARS TO BE A WEAK DISTURBANCE ALOFT...MINOR CONVERGENCE ALONG A WARM FRONT IN THIS AREA...AND AFTERNOON HEATING. THUS...I DO NOT ANTICIPATE THIS ACTIVITY WILL LINGER MORE THAN A FEW HOURS AFTER SUNSET. HUBER && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 334 PM CDT MON SEP 26 2011/ SHORT TERM... WEAK SHALLOW STATIONARY FRONT WAS MIXING OUT THIS AFTERNOON ALONG THE I-20 CORRIDOR. WINDS WERE RETURNING TO THE SOUTH...EXCEPT FOR WEST WINDS OF 5 TO 15 MPH FROM OZONA TO SONORA...DUE TO A WEAK SURFACE LOW IN THE CONCHO VALLEY. GFS AND NAM INDICATING WEAK SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING BACK INTO THE REGION TUESDAY. GOING WITH THE WARMER NAM GUIDANCE. AN OUTSIDE CHANCE A THUNDERSTORM LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON....DUE TO LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE ALONG WEAK COLD FRONT. LEFT OUT MENTION IN ZONES DUE TO LOW POTENTIAL HOWEVER. IF WE DO HAVE A STRONG THUNDERSTORM TUESDAY AFTERNOON...IT WOULD BE SOUTH OF THE I-20 CORRIDOR...WHERE GFS AND NAM SBCAPES OF 1500 TO 2000 J/KG EXIST. 04 LONG TERM... THE QUASI STATIONARY FRONT CURRENTLY POSITIONED OVER THE CWA WILL HAND AROUND THROUGH MID WEEK BEFORE WASHING OUT ON WEDNESDAY. TEMPS ON THE WARM SIDE OF THE BOUNDARY WILL PUSH 100 DEGREES WITH TEMPS ACROSS THE NORTH IN THE LOW/MID 90S. RELATIVELY DRY AIR WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO COOL INTO THE LOWER 60S ON WEDNESDAY MORNING BUT WILL BE MORE IN THE MID/UPPER 60S ON THURSDAY. DURING THIS TIME...ENHANCED LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE AND STRONG DIURNAL HEATING SHOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH FORCING FOR A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LATE TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THUS...I RETAINED LOW POPS DURING THESE PERIODS. ON THURSDAY...A COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AS A STRONG WAVE MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN CONUS FINALLY KICKS THE STRONG VORTEX OUT OF THE GREAT LAKES. THE TIMING OF THIS BOUNDARY IS STILL IN QUESTION AS THE NAM IS THE FASTEST OF THE SOLUTIONS BRINGING THE FRONT INTO THE BIG COUNTRY BY MIDDAY. THE GFS/ECMWF REALLY DO NOT BRING THE FRONT IN UNTIL AFTER 00Z. IF THE LATTER SOLUTIONS PREVAIL...STRONG COMPRESSIONAL HEATING WILL RESULT IN HOT TEMPERATURES ONCE AGAIN BUT THE FASTER NAM MAY OFFER SOME SLIGHTLY COOLER RESULTS. I HAVE OPTED TO FOLLOW THE SLOWER GUIDANCE AS DEEP PRE FRONTAL MIXING SHOULD SLOW ITS PROGRESS THROUGHOUT THE DAYTIME HOURS. I ADDED A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY NIGHT ALONG THE FRONT GIVEN A MODEST LOW LEVEL MOISTURE RETURN AND ENHANCED CONVERGENCE. HOWEVER...THE MID/UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS ARE RATHER WEAK THIS FAR SOUTH. COOLER TEMPS ARE EXPECTED FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH HIGHS GENERALLY IN THE 80S. NO PRECIPITATION IS ANTICIPATED DURING THIS TIME AS A BROAD RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE CENTRAL CONUS. LEE CYCLOGENESIS WILL BRING WINDS BACK AROUND FROM THE SOUTH OVER THE WEEKEND HELPING PUSH TEMPS BACK INTO THE LOWER 90S EARLY NEXT WEEK. JOHNSON && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ABILENE 62 93 63 94 67 / 10 10 20 20 10 SAN ANGELO 65 99 65 97 67 / 20 10 20 20 10 JUNCTION 65 98 65 95 65 / 20 10 20 20 10 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && HUBER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 227 PM CDT MON SEP 26 2011 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-271930- 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- 227 PM CDT MON SEP 26 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ALONG A WEAK COLD FRONT TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...MAINLY SOUTH OF THE INTERSTATE 20 CORRIDOR. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE SMALL HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The lightning induced Mitchell 3 Fire was located in the extreme part of southwest Crockett County. Several oil field structures were threatened and fire crews were working in rough terrain.
The 1200 acre Coleman Burkett West Wildfire was located 7 miles north northwest of Burkett. The wildfire burned areas in the vicinity of Highway 206 in northeast Coleman County. Three homes were threatened and saved but two outbuildings were lost in the fire. The fire was fully extinguished.
The 700 acre Crooked River Ranch Wildfire started in Haskell County and burned south into extreme northern Shackelford County. One structure was threatened and saved.
The 700 acre Crooked River Ranch Wildfire started in Haskell County and burned south into extreme northern Shackelford County. One structure was threatened and saved.
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, September 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: 349569, 349534, 349542, 349543.