The Sunday Evening wildfire began around 1912CST about four miles southeast of Pringle Texas in the central Texas Panhandle or just east of County Road 12 and State Highway 207 and was moving in a northeasterly direction. The wildfire consumed two thousand one hundred and ninety-seven acres and was caused by downed power lines.
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 AMA wrote it up.
The Sunday Evening wildfire began around 1912CST about four miles southeast of Pringle Texas in the central Texas Panhandle or just east of County Road 12 and State Highway 207 and was moving in a northeasterly direction. The wildfire consumed two thousand one hundred and ninety-seven acres and was caused by downed power lines. One home was threatened but saved and there were no reports of homes or any other structures being damaged or lost. There were also no reports of damage to any farm fencing or livestock. There was one report of an injury, however there were no reports of fatalities. Although the wildfire was contained around 0730CST on Monday December 21, the wildfire rekindled again by 1500CST on Monday December 21. The wildfire was finally contained by 1840CST on Monday December 21. A portion of the wildfire was located in the Canadian River breaks making it extremely difficult for firefighters and fire trucks to gain access to the wildfire because of the rugged terrain. A total of eleven fire departments and other fire agencies, including the Texas Forest Service, the National Park Service at Lake Meredith, and multiple personnel from area ranches, responded to the wildfire. The Texas Forest Service provided dozers and other heavy equipment to assist with wildfire operations.
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 Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 20, 5:28 PM CST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 528 PM CST SUN DEC 20 2015 .AVIATION... FOR THE 00Z TAFS...WINDS WILL DIMINISH LATE THIS EVENING AND THEN BECOME MORE WNW AS A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. OTHER THAN PERIODS OF HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS...NO PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED THROUGH LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON. ANDRADE && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 324 PM CST SUN DEC 20 2015/ DISCUSSION... FORECAST THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY LOOKS TO REMAIN UNEVENTFUL...PUNCTUATED BY PERIODS OF HIGH CLOUDS AND DRY FRONTAL PASSAGES...EACH OF WHICH SHOULD KEEP CHANCES FOR MOISTURE RETURN QUITE LOW. WEAK COLD FRONTS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT...TUESDAY NIGHT...AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR THURSDAY. DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL DURING THE UPCOMING WEEK...PARTICULARLY ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY...WHEN STRONGER SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE PREDICTED. MODELS ARE CONTINUING TO STRUGGLE WITH MID-LEVEL SYSTEM DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWESTERN U.S. FRIDAY AND BEYOND. THE ONLY GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE ECMWF ENSEMBLE MEANS HAVE COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT WITH THE GFS ENSEMBLE MEANS REGARDING THE TIMING AND ORIENTATION OF THE MID-LEVEL TROF. THIS WARRANTS MAINTAINING SLIGHT CHANCE POPS AREA WIDE SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. APPEARS LIKELY THAT SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WILL BE MUCH COLDER...WITH LIGHT SNOW BEING POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA SATURDAY...AND ACROSS ALL SECTIONS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. 03 COCKRELL FIRE WEATHER... GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL DIMINISH QUICKLY THIS EVENING. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE PANHANDLES TONIGHT...SHIFTING WINDS TO THE WEST AND NORTHWEST. ON MONDAY...WEST WINDS ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST TEXAS PANHANDLE WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 20 MPH...WITH LIGHT AND SOMEWHAT VARIABLE WINDS ELSEWHERE. ON TUESDAY...SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH ARE EXPECTED...BUT NO ELEVATED OR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AS RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES REMAIN ABOVE 20 PERCENT. COLD FRONTAL PASSAGES ON TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY LIGHT WINDS ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...RESPECTIVELY. NO ELEVATED OR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY AS RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES REMAIN ABOVE 20 PERCENT. 03 && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 325 PM CST SUN DEC 20 2015 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-211200- CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB- HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON- GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH- 325 PM CST SUN DEC 20 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. .DAY ONE...THROUGH TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. COCKRELL
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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, December 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: 606111.