Name: Wildfire in Texas, October 11 to 14, 2020
Start: 2020-10-11T00:00
End: 2020-10-14T16:00
Location: Texas

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS AMA wrote it up.

Moderate to severe drought conditions along with critical fire weather conditions resulted in a rather large wildfire in Roberts County. West southwest winds of 25 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 mph and humidities below ten percent led to extreme wildfire behavior with one wildfire consuming in excess of eleven thousand acres.

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 Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 10, 10:51 PM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 10, 10:51 PM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 10, 1:06 PM CST, 10 hours 54 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Roberts

When: October 11, 12:00 AM CST to October 14, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Roberts forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service
Coordinates: 35.839, -100.813 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Jackalope Fire began about ten miles north of Pampa Texas in Roberts|County around 1445CST. The wildfire began just east of Texas State Highway 70 in southwest Roberts County and was burning in a grass fuel type. The wildfire was being managed by the Texas A&M Forest Service in unified command with local fire department resources. The cause of the wildfire was determined to be mechanical from a roadside start. The wildfire resisted initial attack efforts and ultimately crossed the Farm to Market Road 283 impacting traffic due to fire activity and suppression efforts. Farm to Market Road 283 had to be closed around 1931CST due to fire operations. Multiple fire agencies and one private aircraft were called to assist with the control efforts of the fire leading to successful control of priority areas into the early morning hours of October 12. There were a total of sixty-five personnel fighting the fire. There were ten structures and two ranch compounds which were threatened, however no structures were lost during the initial operational period. The fire consumed eleven thousand five hundred and twenty acres which was measured with GPS mapping and established dozer line construction was completed around the perimeter of the fire. There were no reports of any injuries, near misses or fatalities. The wildfire was contained approximately 1600CST on October 14, 2020.

What these are

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.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2020 Every state in 2020 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, October 2020

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 920356.