The combination of warm, dry and breezy conditions created favorable conditions for fire starts and spread across western-north Texas on the 6th.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 OUN wrote it up.
The combination of warm, dry and breezy conditions created favorable conditions for fire starts and spread across western-north Texas on the 6th.
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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 6, 5:08 AM CST, 5 hours 19 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Norman OK 608 AM CDT Fri Sep 6 2024 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 555 AM CDT Fri Sep 6 2024 - Isolated showers/storms possible today - Cooler weather this weekend, especially morning lows - Elevated fire weather conditions west and north on Tuesday. && .SHORT TERM... (Today and tonight) Issued at 422 AM CDT Fri Sep 6 2024 A cold front will continue to push south through the area today. Although temperatures are not much cooler with this boundary, it will bring in lower dewpoints which will allow the airmass overnight to cool more than we have seen recently. Many of the convective-allowing models do show isolated showers/storms today near and south of the boundary. The synoptic models generally show some weak QPF signal and do show low CIN this afternoon. Don't expect showers or storms to be too widespread, but there looks to be a sufficient signal to increase POPs above the minimal POPs that the NBM gave us this morning. && .LONG TERM... (Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 422 AM CDT Fri Sep 6 2024 Surface ridging continues to build into the area this weekend as the surface high drifts slowly from southwest Ontario and the upper Midwest into the mid Mississippi Valley with a ridge axis from the high southwest into Oklahoma though helping to keep temperatures below average through the weekend. The ridge starts to weaken as the high moves east early next week allowing southerly winds and somewhat warmer high temperatures to return, although we do not have a good low-level trajectory to bring surface moisture back from the gulf right away, so dewpoints/ humidity will still be lower through mid-week allowing morning lows to remain cooler than average longer. One downside with the low surface humidity is that elevated fire weather conditions may redevelop in the west and part of the north on Tuesday afternoon. Although winds may not be too strong, the low humidity, warming weather and drying vegetation will contribute to these elevated conditions. && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 555 AM CDT Fri Sep 6 2024 All terminals are expected to remain under VFR conditions through the forecast period. A cold front followed by a second reinforcing surface boundary will keep surface winds out of the north at 10-15 kts gusting up to 20 kts by 16Z. Although will see some fair wx CU develop after 18Z, there is a chance for isolated thunderstorms toward 21Z although probabilities are too low (20%) to enter into the TAFs except for terminal KDUA which has a PROB30. Any convection that develops would be high-based keeping terminals at VFR. High surface pressure builds across the Upper Midwest after 00Z veering the surface winds more northeasterly although less gusty. A low-level jet orientated northeast to southwest is expected to develop after 06Z which could result in low-level wind shear affecting terminals generally near to east of the I-44 corridor from Wichita Falls to Oklahoma City. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Oklahoma City OK 85 59 79 55 / 20 0 0 0 Hobart OK 88 59 85 56 / 20 0 0 0 Wichita Falls TX 91 62 86 56 / 20 10 0 0 Gage OK 85 55 85 56 / 20 0 0 0 Ponca City OK 87 57 80 54 / 20 0 0 0 Durant OK 89 62 83 54 / 30 10 0 0 && .OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...None. TX...None. && SHORT TERM...26 LONG TERM....26 AVIATION...68
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Norman OK 428 AM CDT Fri Sep 6 2024 OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-070930- Harper-Woods-Alfalfa-Grant-Kay-Ellis-Woodward-Major-Garfield- Noble-Roger Mills-Dewey-Custer-Blaine-Kingfisher-Logan-Payne- Beckham-Washita-Caddo-Canadian-Oklahoma-Lincoln-Grady-McClain- Cleveland-Pottawatomie-Seminole-Hughes-Harmon-Greer-Kiowa-Jackson- Tillman-Comanche-Stephens-Garvin-Murray-Pontotoc-Coal-Cotton- Jefferson-Carter-Johnston-Atoka-Love-Marshall-Bryan-Hardeman- Foard-Wilbarger-Wichita-Knox-Baylor-Archer-Clay- 428 AM CDT Fri Sep 6 2024 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of northern... western...central...and southern Oklahoma...and western north Texas. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight... .Thunderstorms... Isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected today. Storms will not be widespread and severe weather is not expected, but gusty winds will be possible near any strong storms that develop. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday... .Fire Weather... Elevated fire weather conditions will be possible Tuesday afternoon across western and portions of northern Oklahoma due to low humidity expected across these areas. .Thunderstorms... Thunderstorm chances return Wednesday and Thursday from north central Texas into southeastern Oklahoma. Get graphics and more details at weather.gov/norman...and follow our weather forecast office on Twitter and Facebook.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Friday Fire burned 362 acres in northern portions of Archer County.
The Van Fire burned 417 acres in northern portions of Wichita County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, September 2024
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: 1215957, 1215956.