Update on critical fire weather in So Great Plains on Feb. 14-15

I spent some time over the last two days doing the best that I can to follow any wildfire activity in the Southern Great Plains including but not limited to Oklahoma and Texas during the February 14th and 15th critical fire weather.

I expect that there are wildfires, including smaller wildfires that were quickly contained that I do not know about. I do know of two wildfires that I will mention here.

The first wildfire is a wildfire in Jones County, Texas that broke out on February 14th reported by KTXS. It seems the wildfire burned some automobiles and there houses were threatened for a time.

Jones County #wildfire burns vehicles,  threatens homes https://t.co/lZPUitGu0C @AbileneFire @TXForestService

— KTXS News (@KTXS_News) February 14, 2018

Sometime later on February 14th, the Texas A&M Forest Service reported that the some wildland firefighters were released from the Jones fire as local responders were making good progress in fighting the wildfire.

Incident Update: Texas A&M Forest Service canceled/released from the wildfire in Jones County. Local fire departments have reported progress of the fire has been stopped. #txfire

— Texas A&M Forest Service Incident Information (@AllHazardsTFS) February 14, 2018

The second wildfire that is the Highway 34 & 73 fire in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, first reported on February 16th. I learned of this wildfire from the Southern Area Coordination Center's (SACC) Morning Report for February 16, 2018, the current Morning Report (updated weekdays during fire season) may be found by clicking on Southern Area Products. The fire has burned 400 acres. The SACC reports that the fire is at 59 percent containment when the report went to press.

The Current Large Incidents Map (updated weekly) dated February 16, 2018 - available here - has a box with a drop down menu below the map where you can get current information on a specific wildfire. According to that drop down box, obtained at 3 PM on February 16th, the Hwy 34 & 73 fire is at 80 percent containment.

I should mention that there are other wildfires in Oklahoma and Texas mapped on this Current Large Incidents Map are not, or are no longer being reported, on by the Southern Area Coordination Center (SACC). While I did miss a couple of days, I have been following the Morning Reports from the SACC. I believe but am not certain that the wildfires that I wrote about on February 2nd are contained. I wrote about the East Buford and West Buford wildfires, both in Oklahoma, on February 5th, both have since been contained.

In closing, two maps for you. The first is the Day 2 Fire Weather Outlook issued by the NWS Storm Prediction Center on February 16th where Day 2 is February 17th. The second map is the latest drought monitor map.

Fire Wx bundle for days 1-2, 3-8 obtained on February 16, 2018 from http://www.spc.noaa.gov/gis/