Very dry conditions and hot temperatures for the last three weeks of July followed a very wet spring. The abundant fuels quickly dried and began to fuel wildfires.
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.
Very dry conditions and hot temperatures for the last three weeks of July followed a very wet spring. The abundant fuels quickly dried and began to fuel wildfires. A wildfire burned about 550 acres near Mason.
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 Jul 30, 5:05 AM CST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 605 AM CDT THU JUL 30 2015 .AVIATION... /12Z TAFS/ VFR CONDITIONS WITH LIGHT WINDS WILL CONTINUE AT ALL TERMINALS THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 401 AM CDT THU JUL 30 2015/ SHORT TERM... (TODAY AND TONIGHT) THE CENTER OF THE UPPER HIGH WILL BE LOCATED OVER THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE THROUGH TONIGHT WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PRIMARILY OVER THE PANHANDLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. SINCE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY SHOULD REMAIN NORTH OF THE BIG COUNTRY, HAVE NOT MENTIONED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SHORT TERM FORECAST. TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON SHOULD BE SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 90S TO AROUND 100 DEGREES. MORNING LOWS TOMORROW WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE LOW TO MID 70S. 15 LONG TERM... (FRIDAY THROUGH NEXT WEDNESDAY) CURRENTLY, THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS CENTERED NEAR CHILDRESS. BY FRIDAY, THIS RIDGE WILL BE CENTERED MORE OVER NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA. THAT WILL PUT OUR AREA UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE RIDGE. THIS WILL BRING WEAK SHORTWAVE DISTURBANCES ACROSS THE AREA BEGINNING FRIDAY, AND LAST THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WHILE A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA, THIS FEATURE IS EXPECTED TO BECOME DIFFUSE AFTER IT MOVES INTO THE AREA, MAKING IT LESS LIKELY TO BE A RELIABLE FOCUS FOR CONVECTION TO DEVELOP OFF OF. HOWEVER, WITH WEAK DISTURBANCES ROTATING AROUND THE HIGH, AND GOOD MOISTURE CONTENT (PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES >1.5"), KEEPING 20 TO 30 PERCENT RAIN CHANCES IN THE FORECAST APPEARS PRUDENT FROM FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. HIGH TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE A COUPLE DEGREES COOLER THROUGH THE WEEKEND, BUT WE ARE NOT EXPECTING SIGNIFICANT RELIEF FROM THE HEAT, AND HIGHS WILL REMAIN IN THE MID TO UPPER 90S. FOR NEXT WEEK, THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS EXPECTED TO EXPAND BACK TO THE EAST, REDUCING RAIN CHANCES AND KEEPING HOT TEMPERATURES IN THE FORECAST. HIGHS WILL LIKELY WARM BACK UP TO THE UPPER 90S TO AROUND 100 DEGREES FROM MONDAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK, AND THESE HIGHS MAY HAVE TO BE WARMED FURTHER. 20 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ABILENE 98 75 98 74 / 5 5 20 20 SAN ANGELO 100 73 99 72 / 5 5 10 10 JUNCTION 99 73 98 71 / 0 5 30 20 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 99/99/99
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 333 AM CDT THU JUL 30 2015 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-310845- 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- 333 AM CDT THU JUL 30 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FRIDAY INTO SUNDAY. THE PRIMARY HAZARD WILL BE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
826 AM CDT THU JUL 30 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1245 PM WILDFIRE 7 NW LOYAL VALLEY 30.64N 99.11W
07/28/2015 M550 ACRE MASON TX EMERGENCY MNGR
THE ECKERT ROAD FIRE BURNED 550 ACRES NEAR THE
INTERSECTION OF U.S. HIGHWAY 87 AND RANCH ROAD 783. THE
FIRE WAS 100 PERCENT CONTAINED. ON STRUCTURE WAS LOST IN
THE FIRE.
&&
EVENT NUMBER SJT1500515
JOHNSONPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
842 AM CDT THU JUL 30 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1245 PM WILDFIRE 7 NW LOYAL VALLEY 30.64N 99.11W
07/28/2015 M550 ACRE MASON TX EMERGENCY MNGR
THE ECKERT ROAD FIRE BURNED 550 ACRES NEAR THE
INTERSECTION OF U.S. HIGHWAY 87 AND RANCH ROAD 783. THE
FIRE WAS 100 PERCENT CONTAINED. ONE STRUCTURE WAS LOST
IN THE FIRE.
&&
CORRECTED REMARKS
EVENT NUMBER SJT1500515
JOHNSONThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Eckert Road Fire burned 550 acres near the intersection of U.S. Highway 87 and Ranch Road 783 or about 7 miles northwest of Loyal Valley. The fire was 100% contained and one structure was lost in the fire.
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, July 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: 602649.