High Wind in Hartley, Texas

Multiple ground stations measured high wind gusts, up to 73 mph, somewhat continuously for approximately 8 hours.

A strong upper level storm system first brought strong and gusty southwest to westerly winds on Monday the 3rd. Then, on the back side of the system a front with strong and gusty northerly winds to the combined OK/TX Panhandles. On Monday, the strongest wind gusts in excess of 58 mph were confined to the central to western Texas Panhandle. The highest wind gust measured was 69 mph around Dalhart, TX. Also, westerly winds helped to feed extra dry air into the combined Panhandles. With the dormant grasses and high winds along with dry air, Monday became a high fire danger day. Fortunately very few fires broke out. The most notable fire was located just southeast of Pampa, TX when the eastern TX Panhandle saw drier air move in with winds continuing to be breezy and gusty after dark.