National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

UNUSUALLY HOT, DRY, AND WINDY CONDITIONS OCCURRED ON THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS ON APRIL 15, 2006, AS A VIGOROUS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WOUND OUT OF THE ROCKIES INTO THE CENTRAL GREAT PLAINS. RECORD HEAT BAKED BOTH CHILDRESS WITH 97 DEGREES AND LUBBOCK 92 DEGREES, WHILE EVEN HOTTER TEMPERATURES BAKED ASPERMONT AT 100 DEGREES. THIS MARKED THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE DAY OF SUMMER-LIKE TEMPERATURES OVER THE REGION.

STRONG WEST WINDS OF 45 TO 55 MPH WERE COMMON, BROWNFIELD AT 60 MPH AND SLATON 59 MPH WERE STRONGEST IN THE REGION. BLOWING DUST LOWERED VISIBILITIES TO AS LOW AS ONE MILE IN A FEW PLACES LATE THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION, RELATIVE HUMIDITY LEVELS BOTTOMED OUT AT EXCEPTIONALLY LOW LEVELS, FROM 3 TO 5 PERCENT OVER MOST OF THE REGION. POST WAS LOWEST WITH 2 PERCENT RELATIVE HUMIDITY REPORTED.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS AND VERY DRY AIR AIDED IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND SPREAD OF A WILDFIRE NEAR LEVELLAND. THE WILDFIRE, IGNITED BY A DOWNED POWER LINE (LIKELY FROM THE HIGH WINDS) STARTED AROUND 10:30 AM JUST WEST OF LEVELLAND. THREE HOURS LATER, AFTER CONSUMING AN OLD TRAVEL TRAILER, AND THREATENING SEVERAL HOMES, THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHED. FORTUNATELY, NO SERIOUS INJURIES WERE REPORTED.

A SIMILIAR SUCH WILDFIRE ALSO FORCED THE EVACUATION OF 100 RESIDENTS, AND DESTROYED TWO HOMES IN AMARILLO.

ADDITIONALLY, A HOUSE NEAR BUFFALO SPRINGS LAKE BURNED. IT IS SPECULATED THAT THE STRONG WIND KNOCKED OVER A SMOKER, THUS STARTING THE FIRE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE HOUSE WAS A TOTAL LOSS, ALTHOUGH NO ONE WAS INJURIED.

BELOW IS A MAP DISPLAYING THE HIGHEST WIND GUSTS RECORDED AROUND THE REGION ON APRIL 15, 2006.

Above is a map of peak wind gusts that occurred around the region on April 15, 2006. The map was composed with data from the National Weather Service and the West Texas Mesonet (at Texas Tech University).

BELOW ARE THE STRONGEST WIND GUSTS (IN MPH) REPORTED AT NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OBSERVING SITES IN THE REGION:

LUBBOCK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT    52
CHILDRESS AIRPORT                48

ALSO, FOLLOWING ARE THE STRONGEST WIND GUSTS AS REPORTED BY THE
TEXAS TECH WEST TEXAS MESONET SITES(IN MPH):

* SEVERE WIND GUST

ABERNATHY 5NE      50 MPH
AMHERST 1NE        48 MPH
ANDREWS 2E         46 MPH
ANTON 6S           49 MPH
ASPERMONT 3NE      46 MPH
BROWNFIELD 2S      60 MPH *
CLARENDON 2W       53 MPH
DENVER CITY 7W     55 MPH
DIMMITT 2NE        53 MPH
FLOYDADA 2NE       47 MPH
FLUVANNA 3W        44 MPH
FRIONA 2NE         52 MPH
GAIL 2SE           45 MPH
GOODLETT 3W        55 MPH
GRAHAM 5SW         55 MPH
GUTHRIE 10W        48 MPH
HART 3N            48 MPH
HEREFORD 2NW       55 MPH
JAYTON 1S          45 MPH
LK ALAN HENRY 1NW  46 MPH
LUBBOCK 3W         44 MPH
LAMESA             44 MPH
LEVELLAND 4S       51 MPH
MCLEAN 1E          52 MPH
MEMPHIS 1NE        46 MPH
MORTON 1NE         47 MPH
MULESHOE 2S        45 MPH
O`DONNELL 1N       50 MPH
OLTON 6S           47 MPH
PADUCAH 10SW       52 MPH
PAMPA 2E           54 MPH
PLAINS 3N          51 MPH
PLAINVIEW 1S       46 MPH
POST 1S            52 MPH
RALLS 1SE          53 MPH
REESE CENTER       53 MPH
ROARING SPRINGS 3N 51 MPH
SEAGRAVES 1SW      51 MPH
SEMINOLE 2N        46 MPH
SILVERTON 7E       55 MPH
SLATON 2NE         59 MPH *
SNYDER 3E          43 MPH
SPUR 1W            46 MPH
SUNDOWN 8SW        49 MPH
TAHOKA 3NE         53 MPH
TULIA 2NE          53 MPH
WHITE RIVER LK 6NW 51 MPH
WOLFFORTH 6SW      51 MPH