Drought in Harper, Oklahoma

Drought conditions were alleviated somewhat due to several rain events and some snowfall during the month. However, conditions still continued in the severe (D2) category across the majority of the area. The drought conditions along with warm temperatures and several days of gusty winds continued to cause problems for firefighters with many wildfires occurring across the area. More than 13,000 acres were burned on March 1st with the largest fires occurring in central Oklahoma in Lincoln county and in southwest Oklahoma in Stephens county. Numerous structures were destroyed and one firefighter was killed. Refer to the wildfire entry on March 1, 2006 for further details. Many more wildfires occurred during the month of March. On March 16, 2006, two fires burned almost 2,000 acres east of Moore and south of Midwest City beginning during the mid afternoon hours. The fire caused the temporary closure of Interstate 240 during rush hour and threatened many homes. Aircraft were used to fight these fires which caused a hold on air traffic into Tinker AFB. One home and several outbuildings were burned by these fires. Despite severe weather over parts of Oklahoma on March 30, 2006, a wildfire burned in northwest Oklahoma near Ft. Supply. The fire occurred after the passage of a dry line. The smoke plume was easily seen on radar for several hours. Strong west winds, occasionally gusting above 43 knots (50 mph), caused the fire to quickly spread. Portions of the town of Ft. Supply were evacuated, including a prison. However, no homes were damaged or destroyed by this fire. Overall, more than 50,000 acres were burned during March, with numerous structures and equipment damaged or destroyed.The drought conditions continued to cause problems for farmers and ranchers with low or dry farm ponds and scorched or degraded pasture land. The dry conditions also began to take a toll on the winter wheat crop. However, the extent of any damage was still unknown.