Elevated to Critical fire weather conditions remain in place on Wednesday across portions of north central Texas, western north Texas, the Texas panhandle and western Texas.  Temperatures across the western half of the state will soar tomorrow up into the 70s and perhaps even some 80 degree readings in a few spots.  Humidity values will dip down into the teens by early to mid-afternoon and we’ll be be dealing with sustained south/southwest surface winds between 15 to 25mph with higher gusts possible.  All of that will contribute to another day of high fire danger before our next cold front arrives early Thursday.  Fire Weather Watches are currently in place across portions of north central Texas (including Ft. Worth and the mid-cities) and all of western North Texas including Wichita Falls, the Hwy 287 corridor up to Childress, and down to Abilene and the I-20 corridor. It’s possible we may see these areas upgraded to a Red Flag Warning by tomorrow.

Here’s a look at the current active wildfires across the state.  (Note: The fires in grey across east TX are all prescribed burns.) Many of these have been burning for several days now, with a few new ones cropping up today.  One fire today down near Goliad, started out as a controlled burn that quickly became out of control as winds picked up this afternoon. Another fire today near Lubbock started out as a house fire, which jumped the road due to high winds and quickly spread to adjacent fields threatening nearby homes.  Evacuations were ordered as the fire was setting off rounds of ammunition stored in the home.  I’m sure that was not a lot of fun. This just goes to show you how dry we are pretty much everywhere, and how critical the situation is becoming across nearly the entire state with lack of much meaningful rainfall. As a reminder, fire officials across the state are asking everyone to not conduct any outdoor burning for any reason and be extra cautious with anything that could spark a fire.