Wildfire — Reno, Kansas

2017-03-06 · Reno, Kansas

Event narrative

A large grass fire started north of Hutchinson on Sunday March 5th, but was around 90% contained by the early afternoon hours of Monday March 6th. However, the fire rapidly sparked back up early Monday evening, March the 6th, as winds flipped around to the northwest and relative humidity values plummeted. This forced evacuations of around 10,0000 people from areas north of Hutchinson including the far northern portions of the town. 6300 acres were burned by the fire, with 10 homes burned to the ground.

Wider weather episode

A tight pressure gradient ahead of a strong storm system produced high winds across portions of Central Kansas during the morning of March 6th, 2017. The highest winds in excess of 50-55 mph occurred across Central Kansas, near Russell, Kansas and Wilson, Kansas. Several large grass fires affected central Kansas which began on Saturday, March 4th with a couple of wildfires continuing through March 6th.

Two of the most impacted areas were just south of Wilson Lake, where on March 6th, residents were evacuated from the town of Wilson, as fires approached from the northwest. Residents were eventually allowed back to their homes later that night.

Another large grass fire started north of Hutchinson on Sunday March 5th but was around 90% contained by the early afternoon hours of Monday March 6th. However, the fire rapidly sparked back up early Monday evening on March the 6th, as winds flipped around to the northwest and relative humidity values plummeted. This forced evacuations of around 10,0000 people from areas north of Hutchinson including the far northern portions of the town.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 681727. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.