Forecasters Warn of Wildfire Outbreak Across Texas and Oklahoma

Forecasters with the National Weather Service have called Friday their “day of biggest concern” this week for dangerous fire weather conditions across a broad slice of the southern Great Plains and a portion of the Southwest and even into the Midwest.A strong storm barreling across the country is expected to drive gusty winds and dry air across the desiccated landscape of eastern New Mexico and Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.Any wildfires that start could spread rapidly in this region.The winds are expected to be strongest and the fire risk highest in an area extending from north Texas across central Oklahoma into southeast Kansas and including a smidgen of Missouri.

Wind speeds could top 90 miles per hour in the most extreme cases.“A wildfire outbreak is possible in that corridor,” said Harry Weinman, a meteorologist at the Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.The Storm Prediction Center warned that conditions here would be “extremely critical,” a rare designation that has been used on three other occasions this month in the southern Plains.It was most recently issued on Wednesday, but for a smaller area than the one on Friday.

It’s typically used only once or twice a year in the southern Plains.The agency also warned that isolated dry thunderstorms could bring heightened fire risk to eastern Kansas, northeast Oklahoma, western Missouri and far northwest Arkansas.Dry thunderstorms can generate thunder and lightning but produce little to no rain on the ground.

Any lightning strike that hits the ground can easily start a wildfire, especially when it’s windy.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscr...