An arsonist started a wildfire which became out of control due to elevated fire weather conditions.
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 SGF wrote it up.
An arsonist started a wildfire which became out of control due to elevated fire weather conditions.
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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 28, 5:27 PM CST, 3 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Springfield MO 527 PM CST SUN FEB 28 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Monday) It was a breezy day over extreme southeast Kansas and the Missouri Ozarks. Southwest to west winds were sustained at 18 to 30 mph with higher gusts at times. This led to a Wind Advisory that was posted for most of the region that will expire this afternoon. As a cold front shifts across the area late this afternoon and evening, winds will begin to decrease in speed. As a matter of fact, with surface high pressure moving over southwest Missouri early Monday morning, winds will become light and variable for a couple of hours at most locations. No precipitation is expected with this evening's frontal passage. Look for overnight lows to fall into the 30s. For Monday, fire weather will again take main stage as south to southwest winds increase across the Osage Plains behind an exiting center of high pressure. Sustained winds ranging from 10 to 20 mph can not be ruled out with higher gusts. Areas along and northwest of a line from Pittsburg Kansas to Osceola will have the best chances at Red Flag Warning conditions Monday afternoon. Relative humidity values will range from the low to mid 20s. Under sunny skies, temperatures Monday will warm back into the 70s. .LONG TERM...(Monday Night through Sunday) A storm system will approach the region Tuesday morning which will trigger a round of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms in far southern Missouri may become organized, with the risk for producing large hail up to the size of quarters. As of now this risk area will generally remain along and south of a line from Columbus Kansas to Eminence Missouri. Most locations should receive measurable precipitation late Monday night into Tuesday. This system is positively tilted in structure, therefore it will bring down some Canadian air with it. Temperatures will be limited to the 40s and 50s on Tuesday afternoon, with overnight lows falling into the 20s. Wednesday afternoon we briefly experience return flow ahead of another fast moving clipper system. We will not recover much moisture within the Ozarks airmass prior to Wednesday night and Thursday's clipper. Therefore, any precipitation we experience could be rather light in nature. Many areas may not experience any precip at all. Heading into the end of next week, warm and dry weather are expected, for the exception of one more frontal passage around the Sunday time frame. Looking beyond 7 days from now, a major pattern change is expected, as polar energy shifts from the Hudson Bay, back to the Siberian Regions of Russia. This will pop westerly flow northward keeping the Ozarks within a warm and increasingly moist airmass. There are also indications that one more more speed maxes will trigger thunderstorms within a sheared environment. It's looking like an active spring like pattern 8 to 12 days from now. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Monday evening) Issued at 527 PM CST Sun Feb 28 2016 For the KSGF/KJLN/KBBG tafs: High pressure will build across the taf sites tonight and then push east of the area Monday with VFR flight conditions expected through the taf period. Winds will diminish to light and variable for a time late tonight and early Monday then swing around to the south Monday with speeds generally around 12 knots at KBBG and KSGF and 12 to 19 knots at KJLN. && .SGF Watches/Warnings/Advisories... MO...NONE. KS...NONE. && SHORT TERM...Cramer LONG TERM...Cramer AVIATION...Raberding
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 304 PM CST SUN FEB 28 2016 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-292115- BOURBON-CRAWFORD-CHEROKEE-BENTON-MORGAN-MILLER-MARIES-VERNON- ST. CLAIR-HICKORY-CAMDEN-PULASKI-PHELPS-BARTON-CEDAR-POLK-DALLAS- LACLEDE-TEXAS-DENT-JASPER-DADE-GREENE-WEBSTER-WRIGHT-NEWTON- LAWRENCE-CHRISTIAN-DOUGLAS-HOWELL-SHANNON-MCDONALD-BARRY-STONE- TANEY-OZARK-OREGON- 304 PM CST SUN FEB 28 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED... LIMITED NON THUNDERSTORM WIND RISK. SIGNIFICANT FIRE WEATHER RISK. DISCUSSION... GUSTY SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS UP TO 30 MPH WILL CAUSE ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS OVER THE ENTIRE REGION LATE THIS AFTERNOON. BY EARLY THIS EVENING...WIND SPEEDS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE...ENDING THE RISK FOR A RAPID SPREAD OF IGNITED WILDLAND FIRES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. GUSTY WINDS WILL INCREASE AGAIN MONDAY WITH ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS EXPECTED. THE OSAGE PLAINS OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI WILL RECEIVE THE GREATEST CHANCES AT REACHING RED FLAG WARNING CONDITIONS. THERE IS THEN A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS FROM MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY AS A STORM SYSTEM PUSHES THROUGH THE REGION. A FEW OF THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME ORGANIZED WITHIN AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM COLUMBUS KANSAS...TO AVA...TO ROUND SPRING MISSOURI. LARGE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS WILL BE THE MAIN RISK WITH ANY STORMS THAT BECOME SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && MORE DETAILED INFORMATION CAN BE ACCESSED AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SGF/SITREP(ALL LOWERCASE) THIS PRODUCT IN GRAPHICAL FORMAT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER... HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SGF(ALL LOWERCASE) CRAMER
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1253 PM CST SUN FEB 28 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1025 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 2 SSW BUTTERFIELD 36.72N 93.92W
02/28/2016 E50 MPH BARRY MO PUBLIC
ESTIMATED WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH BLEW THE
ROOF OFF OF A SMALL SHED.
1025 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 2 SE CASSVILLE 36.66N 93.84W
02/28/2016 E50 MPH BARRY MO LAW ENFORCEMENT
WIND GUSTS ESTIMATED UP TO 50 MPH DOWNED A
TREE ON HIGHWAY 76 EAST OF CASSVILLE.
&&
NWS SPRINGFIELD MO
IRIS SYSTEMThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A fire was started by arson near Crosstimbers which became difficult to control. The fire burned approximately 930 acres. At least one outbuilding was destroyed and 13 other outbuildings threatened. Seven homes were threatened.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, February 2016
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: 618808.