Texas, 2013Wildfire in Texas, March 3 to 10, 2013
March 3 to 10, 2013 · NWS FWD · 2 events in 2 counties and zones
A wildfire initially began on March 3rd at the Iron Bridge Park in Bell County from a campfire which burned out of control. The fire was contained late on March 4th, but with gusty winds on the 5th it went out of control once again.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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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- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- $20,000
- Events
- 2
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.
A wildfire initially began on March 3rd at the Iron Bridge Park in Bell County from a campfire which burned out of control. The fire was contained late on March 4th, but with gusty winds on the 5th it went out of control once again. The fire was then finally contained on the 10th after burning a total of 503 acres. Another wildfire began on the 4th of March in Love County, but quickly progressed into Grayson County. The fire was estimated to burn hundreds of acres in Grayson county, but burned more than 3,000 acres total before being contained on the 5th.
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 Mar 3, 2:57 PM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 3, 2:57 PM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
257 PM CST SUN MAR 3 2013
.DISCUSSION...
HIGHS ARE PUSHING NEAR 80 DEGREES FROM GRAHAM TO CISCO...WHILE
TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE EAST ARE WARMING THROUGH THE 60S. THE
WARM AND BREEZY WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH MONDAY AS AN UPPER
RIDGE HOLDS STRONG. WINDY WEATHER WILL OCCUR TONIGHT AS A 45-55 KT
LLJ SETS UP LATE THIS EVENING. DESPITE PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES....PARTIAL
MIXING FROM THE BOUNDARY LAYER WILL LIKELY RESULT IN SOUTH WINDS
15-25 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. THESE SPEEDS WILL BE JUST BELOW WIND
ADVISORY CRITERIA AND WILL NOT ISSUE ANY HIGHLIGHTS REGARDING THE
GUSTY WINDS TONIGHT AT THIS TIME.
THE LOW LEVEL WIND FIELD WILL VEER AND WEAKEN ACROSS THE WESTERN
COUNTIES ON MONDAY... AS A STRONG COLD FRONT APPROACHES LATE IN
THE DAY. THE VEERED FLOW WILL SET UP A THERMAL RIDGE AHEAD OF THE
FRONT WITH HIGHS WELL INTO THE 80S ACROSS WESTERN NORTH TEXAS AND
IN THE 70S ACROSS EASTERN NORTH TEXAS. HIGH FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ACROSS THE WEST MAY CONTINUE MONDAY...THOUGH WITH WARMER TEMPS
AND LOWER WIND SPEEDS. STILL...MINIMUM HUMIDITY VALUES WILL BE
BETWEEN 10-15 PERCENT AND WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED FOR A FIRE
WEATHER STATEMENT ONCE AGAIN. STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE ACROSS THE
EAST...BUT THIS IS WHERE HUMIDITIES WILL REMAIN WELL ABOVE CRITICAL
LEVELS.
A SHORTWAVE NOW DROPPING SOUTH ACROSS CA/NV WILL MERGE WITH A
STRONG SHORTWAVE DROPPING SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE NORTHERN PLAINS
AND HELP SURGE A COLD FRONT INTO NORTH TEXAS MONDAY NIGHT. CAA
PROGGED TO BE STRONG WITH NORTH WINDS 20 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTY
LIKELY THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING WITH HIGHS ABOUT 20 DEGREES COOLER
THAN MONDAY. WILL HOLD ONTO A FEW LIGHT SHOWERS OR SPRINKLES
ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST COUNTIES BEFORE SUNRISE THIS MORNING...THOUGH
MOISTURE QUALITY AND SLIGHTLY VEERED FLOW AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL
LIKELY LIMIT ANY MEASURABLE RAINFALL TO TRACE AMOUNTS. WINDS WILL
WEAKEN QUICKLY TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY DUE TO A SURFACE HIGH
SETTLING IN. IT WILL REMAIN COOL WITH HIGHS STILL IN THE 55-65
DEGREE RANGE.
THE SYSTEM PEGGED FOR NEXT WEEKEND REMAINS A GOOD WAYS OFF AND CAN
BE SEEN DROPPING SOUTH THROUGH THE GULF OF ALASKA AND TOWARD THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST. STRONG SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL DEVELOP IN
ADVANCE OF THIS SYSTEM FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK WITH LEE
SIDE SURFACE PRESSURE FALLS RESULTING IN BREEZY AND WARMER
CONDITIONS THURSDAY INTO SATURDAY. BEYOND 12Z SATURDAY...THE ECMWF
AND GFS CONTINUE TO DIVERGE ON STRENGTH/SPEED/AND TIMING WITH THE
ECMWF FURTHER NORTH AND FASTER. THIS LENDS TO AN OVERALL LOW
CONFIDENCE ON SYSTEM EVOLUTION A WEEK OUT AND WILL CONTINUE WITH A
MENTION OF LOW POPS AND QPF AT THIS TIME. BEST RAIN CHANCES ARRIVE
LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND END SUNDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE EAST...WHICH
IS A LEAN TOWARD THE HIGHER VERIFYING ECMWF MODEL IN FAR EXTENDED
PERIODS.
05/
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 50 85 45 61 33 / 0 0 5 0 0
WACO, TX 47 84 44 66 29 / 0 0 5 0 0
PARIS, TX 45 78 40 60 30 / 0 10 10 0 0
DENTON, TX 49 84 41 60 30 / 0 0 5 0 0
MCKINNEY, TX 47 81 43 60 29 / 0 0 5 0 0
DALLAS, TX 51 83 44 61 35 / 0 0 5 0 0
TERRELL, TX 48 79 45 59 29 / 0 5 5 0 0
CORSICANA, TX 50 80 46 64 30 / 0 0 10 0 0
TEMPLE, TX 48 82 44 64 31 / 0 0 10 0 0
MINERAL WELLS, TX 48 87 39 64 30 / 0 0 5 0 0
&&
.FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&
05/
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 3, 2:56 PM CST, 2 hours 19 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
256 PM CST SUN MAR 3 2013
TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-041215-
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-
256 PM CST SUN MAR 3 2013
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS.
.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED MAINLY WEST OF A
JACKSBORO TO GRANBURY TO LAMPASAS LINE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON.
SOUTHERLY WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH COMBINED WITH HUMIDITY VALUES BETWEEN
15 AND 20 PERCENT MAY LEAD TO GRASSFIRES ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH
TEXAS.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.
ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST MAINLY WEST OF
INTERSTATE 35 THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 20
MPH AND HUMIDITY VALUES BETWEEN 10 AND 20 PERCENT WILL LEAD TO
GRASSFIRES ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
Wildfire, Bell
- When
- March 3, 5:15 PM CST to March 10, 5:15 PM CST
- Where
- Bell forecast zone
- Crop damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- Newspaper
- Coordinates
- 31.038, -97.478 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
A wildfire initially began on March 3rd at the Iron Bridge Park from a campfire which burned out of control. The fire was contained late on March 4th, but with gusty winds on the 5th it went out of control once again. The fire was then finally contained on the 10th after burning a total of 503 acres.
Wildfire, Grayson
- When
- March 4, 1:00 PM CST to March 5, 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Grayson forecast zone
- Crop damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- Newspaper
- Coordinates
- 33.627, -96.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
A wildfire was estimated to burn hundreds of acres in Grayson county, but burned more than 3,000 acres total before being contained on the 5th.
- 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.
- High Wind and Strong Wind in New Mexico, March 3, 20131 death · $100,000 · 52 kt wind · 2 events
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in North Dakota, March 3 to 4, 201333 events
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, March 3 to 5, 201330 events
- Tornado in Tennessee, March 3, 2013EF1 · 1 event
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Minnesota, March 3 to 5, 201324 events
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in North Dakota, March 3 to 5, 201318 events
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Montana, March 3 to 5, 201315 events
- Damaging Winds in Montana, March 3, 20131 injured · 65 kt wind · 5 events
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Colorado, March 3 to 4, 201310 events
- High Wind in Wyoming, March 3 to 4, 201350 kt wind · 8 events
- High Surf in Hawaii, March 3 to 4, 20138 events
- High Wind in Texas, March 3 to 5, 201373 kt wind · 7 events
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: 442463, 442464.