Warm temperatures, very low humidity, breezy southwesterly winds and dry fuels combined to create conditions favorable for fire starts and spread across Oklahoma on the 8th.
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 OUN wrote it up.
Warm temperatures, very low humidity, breezy southwesterly winds and dry fuels combined to create conditions favorable for fire starts and spread across Oklahoma on the 8th.
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 Mar 8, 12:31 PM CST, 12 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Norman OK 131 PM CDT Sun Mar 8 2026 ...New NEAR TERM, SHORT TERM... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 128 PM CDT Sun Mar 8 2026 - Severe weather potential returns Tuesday. - Several days of elevated to near critical fire weather conditions across western Oklahoma. - Strong front Wednesday will bring a possible light freeze to parts of northwest Oklahoma Thursday morning. && .NEAR TERM... (Rest of today and tonight) Issued at 128 PM CDT Sun Mar 8 2026 Southwest winds and sunny skies will allow much warmer temperatures this afternoon compared to yesterday. Only concern this afternoon will be with regards to fire weather as the warmer temperatures combine with very dry airmass and gusty southwest winds to create a period of elevated to near critical fire weather conditions across portions of western and northwestern Oklahoma. These conditions will be slow to improve this evening, especially across northwest Oklahoma. Overnight RH recovery is expected to be poor across northwest Oklahoma as well (45-55%). Milder temperatures expected overnight tonight as south winds continue and remain a bit breezy, especially across northwest half of the area. This and increasing moisture will keep overnight temperatures in the upper 40s and lower 50s. && .SHORT TERM... (Monday through Tuesday night) Issued at 128 PM CDT Sun Mar 8 2026 Low level boundary flow will continue to veer overnight into the day Monday. This will result in a stronger more extensive low level thermal ridge that will encompass much of the area. As we mix into this warm and still very dry layer temperatures will respond by warming well into the 80s, approaching 90 degrees in the far southwest part of Oklahoma into western north Texas. In addition, shallow surface moisture will mix out (surface dewpoints dropping), mainly across west central into northwest Oklahoma, causing afternoon RH values to drop will down into the teens with perhaps some single digit values. Although surface winds may not be quite as strong as previous day, this combination will once again result in an area of elevated to near critical fire weather conditions to develop Monday afternoon in western/northwestern Oklahoma. Meanwhile, models continue to show an amplifying shortwave moving out of the High Plains across Oklahoma Monday. As this occurs an area of warm advection will develop out ahead of this across the Arklatex region and may provide far southeast Oklahoma an opportunity for a few showers and thunderstorms Monday morning, although it does appear that much of the activity and any strong/severe storms would be east of the area. Deeper moisture will finally make its way north Monday night into Tuesday in advance of large closed low near the northern Baja. This low will begin to lift north and east and slowly become and open wave during the day Tuesday. As this occurs some weak waa tries to develop, but mainly in lowest boundary layer and capping above this will likely limit any precip development from this forcing. However there will be larger-scale forcing that may provide sufficient lift for some elevated shower and thunderstorm development during the day Tuesday. Surface heating and continued moisture advection should allow for more suface-based convection as large upper wave approaches the area by mid/late afternoon hours. Modest instability and favorable wind profiles in the warm sector will support development of supercells with the potential for very large hail as well as some tornado risk. Additional convective development is expected by late afternoon along a dryline that will be slow to develop, but should be near the 100th meridian by late afternoon. This activity would pose more a wind and hail risk as convection quickly goes from single cell or multicell clusters into more linear line segments as it traverses west to east across the area Tuesday evening and night. By late Tuesday night a strong cold front will make its way into northern Oklahoma, pushing quickly southward across the area. This will bring in much cooler air and strong, gusty north winds. This will bring an end to any severe weather, but some lingering shower and thunderstorm activity will likely continue into Wednesday. The late arrival of the dryline into the state, if this scenario holds, would limit any fire weather risk during the day Tuesday. && .LONG TERM... (Wednesday through Saturday) Issued at 1242 AM CST Sun Mar 8 2026 After the cold front sweeps through Tuesday night, rain chances will decrease through late week. Fire weather will become the main concern for the latter half of the week with at least daily elevated fire weather across our western Oklahoma and western north Texas counties. Unfortunately, the aforementioned rainfall on Tuesday looks to be on the light side (less than 0.25") for much of this same area. Wednesday, in particular, will bring strong post-frontal north winds approaching wind advisory criteria and yielding elevated RFTIs to most of the forecast area. On subsequent days, less extreme winds will allow fire weather concerns to be more confined and RH driven. Day && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1218 PM CDT Sun Mar 8 2026 All terminals should remain in a VFR category at least through 12Z. Surface winds will increase out of the south-southwest at 10-15 kts gusting up to 20 kts across most terminals through 23Z. The only exception will be terminal KDUA where winds will remain light & variable. By 00Z expecting surface winds to back south- southeast up to 10 kts. A strong low-level jet flowing southwest to northeast is expected to increase tonight with up to 40kt winds in that low-level flow. As a result, have low-level wind shear conditions at all of our terminals by 04Z. There is a potential for some low stratus and/or fog developing across southwest into central Oklahoma with a potential for 5 of our terminals (KSPS, KLAW, KOKC, KOUN, KDUA) degrading to an MVFR category after 12Z. By 15Z expecting surface winds to veer southwesterly at 10-15 kt gusting 15-20 kts. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Oklahoma City OK 53 85 64 80 / 0 0 0 50 Hobart OK 50 87 60 82 / 0 0 0 60 Wichita Falls TX 54 87 65 81 / 0 0 10 70 Gage OK 47 84 53 82 / 0 0 0 50 Ponca City OK 49 83 62 81 / 0 0 0 50 Durant OK 54 80 65 77 / 20 30 10 60 && .OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...None. TX...None. && NEAR TERM...30 SHORT TERM...30 LONG TERM....14 AVIATION...68
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The 41 Road Fire burned 341 acres across far western Woodward County, northeast of Quinlan. The fire also likely burned into portions of far northwestern Major County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, March 2026
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: 1323413.