Wildfires, May 1

May 1, 2008 High Winds and Wildfires

An upper level low pressure system deepening over the central plains along with surface low pressure over the southern plains provided another day of very windy conditions to all of west Texas and southeastern New Mexico Thursday afternoon and evening. The graphic below shows peak wind gusts for selected locations across the area.

West winds and a dry atmosphere allowed temperatures to rise well above normal. Weather conditions along with extreme fire danger were conducive for the development of wildfires. National Weather Service Doppler Radar was able to detect several smoke plumes across the region. The image below was taken at 5:01 PM CDT and shows a smoke plume over northeast Midland county. As of late Thursday evening...this fire is estimated to have burned 2000 acres.

Elsewhere...a fire that began on Wednesday in Pecos county continued to burn actively. The image below was taken at 5:10 PM and shows the satellite detected "hot spot" associated with this wildfire.

This visible satellite image was taken at 5:45 PM CDT and shows a large smoke plume spreading east across Pecos county.

The following image shows smoke plumes associated with 2 fires in northern Lea county. A large smoke plume can also be seen spreading across southern Chaves county.