Wildfire — Wheeler, Texas

2023-03-31 · Wheeler, Texas

Event narrative

The Red Fork Fire cause was unknown, but on a day of high winds and critical fire conditions a fire started and lasted about 3 hours. By the time of containment it had burned about 1033 acres.

Wider weather episode

A strong upper level system over northeast CO swung across the central Plains. Strong surface pressure gradients led to winds 30-40 mph with gusts 55-60 mph. A large grass fire burned in Wheeler County on the afternoon of March 31st where RH values got as low as 7 percent. Given the significantly dry fuels and the strong winds, the amount of time that it took to contain a fire that quickly spread to over 1000 acres was pretty good.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1084360. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.