Several large wildfires broke out from August 24 through the 28th. As the rains ended in early July, hardly any rain fell through late August.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
Several large wildfires broke out from August 24 through the 28th. As the rains ended in early July, hardly any rain fell through late August. Plenty of the vegetation that blossomed from the wet spring, quickly dried, and fueled the wildfires.
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 Aug 26, 4:48 PM CST, 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 548 PM CDT WED AUG 26 2015 .UPDATE... Scattered showers and thunderstorms continue across our southern and southwestern counties late this afternoon. Made an adjustment to the forecast to carry slight chance Pops into this evening past 7 PM. Expect that any lingering convective activity will dissipate before sunset. Other than some adjustments to sky cover in the first period of the forecast, no other changes needed with the forecast. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 330 PM CDT WED AUG 26 2015/ SHORT TERM... (Tonight and Tomorrow) A few showers and storms developing this afternoon across the southern third of West Central Texas, mainly south of a San Angelo to Brownwood line. High res models did a decent job picking up this signal, forecasting the convection to develop this afternoon and this pretty much dissipate well before sunset. Updated to mention PoPs for this afternoon, but will probably leave out of the forecast for tonight with the assumption that the convection will be well on its way to dissipation by 00Z. Otherwise, more of the same for tonight, with overnight lows dropping into the lower 70s for many locations. Thursday looks drier, as an air mass that includes surface dewpoints in the 40s and 50s across East Texas works its way into the area. With this air mass in place, convection chances will disappear and it may actually allow temperatures to climb an extra degree or two. Will bring San Angelo up to right at 100 degrees, with the rest of the area in the mid and upper 90s. LONG TERM... (Thursday night through Wednesday) An upper level ridge, accompanied by dry weather, will continue to dominate the forecast area through the middle of next week. An upper level disturbance over the Central Plains Thursday night will impinge on the northern periphery of the upper ridge as it moves east through the Great Lakes region this weekend. An associated weak cold front will push south into the Southern Plains before stalling out north of the forecast area, with any associated rainfall remaining north of our area. After warmer than normal Friday afternoon highs in the upper 90s, highs will be closer to seasonal norms in the mid 90s through the remainder of the extended. Morning lows will remain in the lower 70s, a few degrees cooler than seasonal norms. 15 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Abilene 73 98 74 98 / 10 5 0 5 San Angelo 70 100 73 99 / 10 5 0 5 Junction 70 96 69 96 / 20 5 0 5 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 238 PM CDT WED AUG 26 2015 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-271945- 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- 238 PM CDT WED AUG 26 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A FEW ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY SOUTH OF A SAN ANGELO TO BROWNWOOD LINE. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND WILDFIRES STARTED BY LIGHTNING WOULD BE THE PRIMARY THREATS. HOWEVER...THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Buckholt Fire burned roughly 1000 acres just off of County Road 402 approximately 5 mies north of the Valverde and Crockett County Line or 25 miles south southwest of Ozona. One home was threatened by this fire.
The Rocking Chair Fire burned approximately 374 acres in extreme southeast Tom Green County. This fire was located about 15 miles west of Live Oak or near Susan Peak Road, 20 miles south southeast of Wall.
The Eaton Cemetery Fire burned an estimated 10468 acres off of Eaton Cemetery Road about 3 miles east of FM 1900 or 9 miles south southwest of Pontotoc. Twenty-three home were threatened. This fire continued into September.
The Prickley Pear Fire burned an estimated 3452 acres off of Kincaid Road roughly 6 miles west of FM 1973 or 23 miles south southwest of Ozona. Lightning was likely the cause of this fire.
The Willabee Fire burned approximately 400 acres southwest of Eldorado on County Road 102. Four homes were threatened.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2015
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: 600032, 600033, 600034, 600037, 600038.