June 9th 2020: High Winds and Fires Across the Panhandles

Overview

A vigorous upper level low moved east from southern Colorado across south central Kansas through the late afternoon on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. As it did, a surface low deepened and moved east across Kansas pushing a cold front south across the Panhandles and western Texas. The cold front moved into the Oklahoma Panhandle early in the morning and quickly swept south across the region. A strong pressure gradient between the low over Kansas and high pressure surging southeast out of Colorado created very strong winds across the region behind the front which lasted into the evening.

Across the northern Panhandles, sustained winds increased to 35 to 45 mph out of the north to northwest with gusts mainly in the 55 to 65 mph range. Further south, sustained winds generally ranged from 25 to 35 with gusts reaching 45 to 55 mph. These strong winds lasted most of the day before finally diminishing from west to east beginning in the late afternoon. Although the relative humidity was only 15 to 35 percent across the central and western Panhandles, the high winds and dry fuels associated with recent onset of moderate to extreme drought in the area led to a high wildfire danger across part of the region.

• Wildfires
• Photos & Video
• High Winds and Blowing Dust

Wildfires

Numerous wildfires were reported across the region and five of them were large enough to be viewed from GOES Satellite. The largest fire occurred west of Skellytown in Carson County. This fire, called the Yandy Fire, reached nearly 3000 acres by Wednesday. The second largest fire burned a little over 100 acres in Sherman County. Other fires remained much less than 100 acres.

 

Multiple wildfires visible on the GOES 3.9 micrometer fire detection channel (NOAA/NASA GOES-16)

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Photos & Video

Blowing dust due to high winds across the Panhandles on June 9th, 2020 (NOAA/NASA GOES-16)

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High Winds and Blowing Dust

Strong winds and dry conditions led to quite a bit of dust being lifted into the atmosphere. Visibilities were generally 3 to 6 miles due to the dust, but near 0 visibility occurred in very isolated locations adjacent to plowed fields, construction sites, etc. Multiple accidents occurred due to these hazardous driving conditions. The worst of these accidents occured on US 54 around 11 miles northeast of Stratford. This accident, caused by poor visibility due to blowing dust, involved three 18 wheelers. There were unfortunately two fatalities reported with this accident. The highest wind gusts recorded across the Panhandles are listed below:

 

Location	Type	Highest Gust (mph)	Time
Hooker 1 W	OK Mesonet	68	1:35 PM
Perryton	AWOS	67	6:15 PM
Beaver 1 SSW	OK Mesonet	67	7:00 PM
Boise City 3 SSE	OK Mesonet	67	2:15 PM
Stinnett 1 NNW	WT Mesonet	66	4:27 PM
Goodwell 2 E	OK Mesonet	66	4:15 PM
Slapout 8 W	OK Mesonet	66	7:30 PM
Palo Duro Reservoir 1 NW	WT Mesonet	64	4:17 PM
Guymon	ASOS	63	2:25 PM
Stratford 4 WNW	WT Mesonet	63	2:32 PM
Eva 12 NE	OK Mesonet	63	3:20 PM
Dalhart	ASOS	62	2:36 PM
Canadian 6 E	WT Mesonet	62	5:55 PM
Dumas	AWOS	61	2:55 PM
Pampa	AWOS	61	5:35 PM
Lake McClellan 2 NW	WT Mesonet	59	4:21 PM
Amarillo	ASOS	58	2:55 PM
Borger	ASOS	58	4:04 PM
Fritch 1 WNW	WT Mesonet	58	3:55 PM
McLean 1 E	WT Mesonet	57	5:50 PM
Palo Duro Canyon Floor	WT Mesonet	57	3:34 PM
Amarillo 15 NNW	WT Mesonet	56	2:37 PM
Pampa 2 E	WT Mesonet	56	1:50 PM
Canadian	AWOS	55	5:55 PM
Amarillo 7 SSE	WT Mesonet	55	3:20 PM
Claude 12 SSW	WT Mesonet	55	2:58 PM
Umbarger 3 NNE	WT Mesonet	55	1:53 PM
Wheeler	RAWS	55	4:52 PM
Amarillo 9 NNE	WT Mesonet	54	4:39 PM
Palo Duro 4 E / JA Ranch	WT Mesonet	54	3:25 PM
Romero 11 SSW	WT Mesonet	54	12:53 PM
Cedar	RAWS	54	4:35 PM
Mesa Vista Ranch	AWOS	53	3:55 PM
Clarendon 2 W	WT Mesonet	53	4:55 PM
Goodnight	WT Mesonet	53	4:32 PM
Palo Duro Canyon Rim	WT Mesonet	52	3:30 PM
Adrian 6 WSW	WT Mesonet	49	1:40 PM
Dozier 3 W	WT Mesonet	49	4:26 PM
Hereford	AWOS	48	12:55 PM
Hereford 2 NW	WT Mesonet	48	2:00 PM
Bootleg 11 WNW	WT Mesonet	47	3:37 AM
Boys Ranch 1 WSW	WT Mesonet	47	1:18 PM
Bootleg	RAWS	43	2:03 PM

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