Wildfire — Rush, Kansas

2021-12-15 · Rush, Kansas

Event narrative

Several large wildfires burned 1,126 acres. Several structures were destroyed.

Wider weather episode

A very strong cold front approached the area from the northwest with a strong gradient and low level jet ahead of it out of the southwest to west prior to the frontal passage. Coupled with a sting jet in the upper levels with a tropopause fold that helped to aid in the sharp gradient towards the surface. Strong mixing from the low to mid levels with afternoon high temperatures pushing into the 70s allowed the mid morning start of the strong wind gusts to last into the late afternoon hours. The entire area had gusts over 58 mph with the strongest speeds 75 to 100 MPH along and north of the Hwy 50 corridor.

Due to the combination of intense non-thunderstorm winds of 75-100 mph, very dry air, unusually warm temperatures and low humidity, extremely critical fire weather conditions developed across parts of western and central Kansas during the day. ). Once fires started they exhibited extreme behavior, including rapid spread at more than 50 mph. This led to extreme fire weather growth and spread over the course of 6-8 hours during the late afternoon and evening. Per the Kansas Forest Service, total acreage burned across Kansas on December 15 was 163,755.9 acres, of which 67,500 acres burned in our area of responsibility. Unfortunately, these fires did result in a fatality in Ellis county.

Once the high winds of 75+ mph developed, widespread blowing dust was observed thanks to the very dry conditions over the previous month and a half. At least one fatality was associated with a car accident in reduced visibility due to blowing dust in western Kansas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 998808. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.