aslkahuna Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Twenty Seven Percent? That's positively juicy-we're at 4% right now after being at 1% earlier this week-same level of temperature. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewxmann Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 nearly 2/3 of the state under exception drought right now. Impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portastorm Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 The current drought has created $1.4 billion dollars in loss to crops and cattle. Obviously (and sadly) that figure will grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 KF05 172135Z AUTO 24014G24KT 10SM CLR 46/M03 A2959 RMK AO2 T04571028 114F/27F at Vernon, TX right now. You guys can keep that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srain Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Firefighters have called for a mandatory evacuation of at least two streets in the Breckinridge Forest neighborhood near where they're battling a stubborn brush fire.Precinct 4 deputies alerted residents by driving through the neighborhood with a P.A. system and knocking on doors. http://www.khou.com/news/local/Firefighters-battle-3-acre-brush-fire-in-northeast-Harris-County-124076394.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wall_cloud Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Ewwwwww and on top of all that, we are going to water rationing soon unless we can find out what's wrong with our county water well... are you on the radioactive Hickory aquifer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portastorm Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Interesting news in the last few days here in south central Texas ... Llano, a quaint little town in the Texas Hill Country about 75 miles northwest of Austin, is about to lose its water source -- the Llano River. The river normally runs at 158 cubic feet per second. As of earlier this week, the river was running at 3.8 cubic feet per second and will run dry in the next few weeks. It is the town's water source. Un-frickin-believable! http://www.statesman.com/news/local/drought-could-dry-llano-river-by-weeks-end-1542491.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXWXCHX Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 are you on the radioactive Hickory aquifer? No, the Hickory Aquifer lies to our west... regardless, many water districts are about to be hit HARD unless rain comes to the rescue. We are fortunate in that our ponds were moderately recharged during winter rains, so at least the cattle and animals will have water. Our Fire Dept is fitting one of our larger brush trucks with a suction hose and a strainer so we can access water in the ponds in case we cannot use our local water source... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srain Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 We have a 35+ acre wildfire near the Tomball area this afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 We have a 35+ acre wildfire near the Tomball area this afternoon. thankfully no structures threatened, but some lanes on fm 2920 i see are closed down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srain Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Large forest fire now burning in Trinity County. HGX 88D is seeing it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Large forest fire now burning in Trinity County. HGX 88D is seeing it... http://lufkindailynews.com/news/local/article_25140e34-99f9-11e0-972f-001cc4c03286.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 wow. 14,000 acres and growing. already the second largest wildfire in east texas history and poised to become the first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srain Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED FIRE WARNING TEXAS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TEXAS RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 420 PM CDT SUN JUN 19 2011 THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE KENDALL COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT. A FIRE HAS STARTED IN KENDALL COUNTY AT MILE MARKER 533 TO MILE MARKER 530 ON INTERSTATE 10 IN KENDALL COUNTY...WEST OF INTERSTATE 10. IF YOU ARE WITHIN 1 TO 3 MILES OF THIS LOCATION WEST OF INTERSTATE 10...FROM MILE MARKER 533 TO MILE MARKER 530... YOU NEED TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 new, fast-growing fire in grimes co. now between navasota and todd mission. evacs underway. http://www.khou.com/news/local/Large-fast-growing-wildfire-burns-in-Grimes-County-Evacuations-underway-124162954.html bearing fire up to 15k acres, and another 2,500 acre fire going near lake sam rayburn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 and now another fire in walker co. between madisonville and huntsville. I-45 shut down in both directions, evacuations issued along FM 247 http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Fire_in_Walker_County_Causing_Highway_Closures_124163529.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 radar picking up a couple of the fires grimes co. fire now reported to have destroyed 20 homes... hoping the title is a typo given the info in the story http://www.khou.com/news/local/Large-fast-growing-wildfire-burns-in-Grimes-County-Evacuations-underway-124162954.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 fire warning in trinity co. now RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 828 PM CDT SUN JUN 19 2011 THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE TRINITY COUNTY JUDGE. DUE TO THE ONGOING WILDFIRE...THE TRINITY COUNTY JUDGE HAS ISSUED A MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDER FOR TRINITY COUNTY RESIDENTS IN THE GRIFFIN RANCH ROAD AREA AND THE HELMIC ROAD AREA. RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO EVACUATE THESE AREAS IMMEDIATELY. walker co. fire up to 1k acres, but I-45 just reopened fire nw of san antonio still not contained, but I-10 is open again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srain Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 A morning e-mail from Jeff re: wildfire situation... A horrible weekend of wildfires across the region which started Friday afternoon and became severe Sunday afternoon with several homes being lost. Several large fires continue to burn out of control this morning across SE TX Red Flag Warning has been issued for today for the northern 1/3rd of SE TX until 600pm. Fires (not contained): Bearing Fire (Polk/Trinity Counties): 15,000 acres are burning in the Davey Crockett National Forest. Fire started Friday afternoon and rapidly exploded Saturday afternoon as the fire burned through the dense pine crowns. TX Forest Service (TFS) has 6 helicopters working this fire with water drop capabilities along with numerous ground personnel cutting fire lines in thick brush and forest. The fire is 40% contained. 6 structures were lost over the weekend. Evacuations ordered around the fire on Saturday evening were lifted Sunday evening. Additional Blackhawk helicopters from the National Guard are being brought in for water air support today. Grimes County Fire: Fire started Sunday afternoon and rapidly spread to 3600 acres in less than 3 hours. 30 homes have been lost with 250 homes still threatened. Mandatory evacuations are in place in the region bounded by HWY 105, FM 1774, and FM 362 in Grimes and Montgomery Counties. TFS is responding with both helicopter and heavy air tanker support along with at least 15 local fire departments. Strong winds overran the northern fire lines late yesterday afternoon and since that point the fire is only 5% contained. Smoke plume generated from this intense fire reached Waco and Dallas overnight and showed as a 45dbz dot in the Houston radar yesterday afternoon. This fire has shown extreme fire behavior and at times has been nearly creating its own local wind weather patterns. Midway Fire (Walker/Madison Counties): Fire started Sunday afternoon north of the town of Huntsville and south of Midway. The fire has burned nearly 4000 acres and closed I-45 in both directions Sunday evening as the fire jumped the interstate. TFS is attempting to cut fire lines and numerous local fire departments are responding. The fire is roughly 10% contained. The town of Midway is under a mandatory evacuation order. Fires (Contained): Breckenridge Fire (Harris County): Fire developed Friday around noon and spread to nearly 60 acres near the Breckenridge subdivision near Aldine Westfield and Cypresswood. 1200 homes were threatened with 200 homes evacuated. Fire crews held fire lines at the back of wooden fences on the subdivision. 12 fire departments, 2 TFS heavy air tankers dropped 2,000 gallons of slurry, and 2 helicopters dropping water contained the fire Friday evening. Fire is 100% contained. Waller Fire (FM 2920 @ Kickapoo Rd): Fire developed rapidly Friday evening and grew to over 50 acres. 12 homes/ranches were threatened and FM 29290 was closed in both directions. Local fire departments contained the fire Friday evening. No homes were lost. Fire is 100% contained Tomball Fire (FM 2920 @ Stuebner-Airline): Fire developed Saturday from a tress touching a power line and spread to 46 aces threatening about 50 homes. Local fire departments were able to cut fires lines and protect the nearby subdivisions. Fire is 100% contained. Outlook: Conditions this weekend were ripe for rapid and explosive fire growth across the region with extremely dry fuels, lower afternoon RH, and strong winds. Today is going to likely be the worst day wind wise as the pressure gradient tightens more than over the weekend. Expect southerly winds already in the 5-15mph range to rapidly increase to near 20mph by late morning with gust of 30-35mph. Fire crews will have a hard time holding current fire lines given these strong winds and fire behavior will become erratic and dangerous by late morning to early afternoon. Burn rates will rapidly increase and forward motion of the fires may approach 35-45mph this afternoon on the strong winds. Deep tropical moisture over the NW Gulf of Mexico will move into the coastal areas late this afternoon and spread inland tonight at least brining RH values up and keeping them up on Tuesday. Winds will also weaken tonight and do not expect strong winds on Tuesday. Expect isolated rain chances late this afternoon near the coast and scattered chances all areas on Tuesday. Gusty winds near thunderstorms on Tuesday will result in rapidly changing and increasing/decreasing wind conditions around any fires and possibly rapidly changing fire direction and burn rates. Hopefully rains will fall on the current fire areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srain Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 E-mail from Jeff: Strong winds are resulting in extensive crown fire runs and spotting along the fire lines and dozer cut fire lines are being breached and ground crews will not be able to hold the fire lines. Houston radar is showingt he fire in Grimes County suggesting the fire is once again flaring back to intensities seen yesterday afternoon when it burned 3600 acres in a few hours. Effective immediately a mandatory evacuation order for the following locations in Grimes County: Shadow Lakes subdivision along FM 1774, Northeast Pine Brook subdivision, homes just west of FM 362, all homes along CR 305. 1800 homes are now being threatened with 35 homes and 20 outbuildsing now lost. The fire is now 5000 acres and less then 10% contained as fire lines this afternoon are being breached on the northwest and northeast flanks of the fire. The evacuation shleter at the TX Renaissance Festival is now being relocated to Navasota High School and a second shelter being opened at the First Baptist Chruch in Magnolia. The fire is now within 3 miles of the TX Renaissance Festival grounds. Very strong winds of 25-35mph continue to push the fire into the tree crowns and resulting in spot fires developing ahead of the main fire lines. Grounds crews are taking defensive fire positions and focusing mainly on saving structures until winds relax later tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srain Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Morning e-mail from Jeff: Fires continue to burn across southeast Texas this morning however moisture is increasing and rain chances on the upswing. Will not be meeting Red Flag Warning criteria today with a significant increase in surface RH and lower wind speeds (still gusty though). Fire Updates: Grimes County (Dyer Mill Fire): The mandatory evacuation area was expanded to 56 sq miles Monday evening after ground crews were unable to hold fire lines on the northern in western flanks due to very strong winds. 1800 homes and businesses are being threatened by this fire within the area bounded by Hwy 105, FM 1774 and FM 362 south of Plantersville. 35 homes have been lost from the 5,000 acre fire with an additional 20-25 outbuildings burned. 20 fire departments from all of Grimes County, sections of Montgomery County, and Brazos County including Bryan and College Station are actively working this fire. TFS has 6 dozer crews cutting 40 ft fire breaks around threatened structures and re-cutting northern and western flank fire lines that were breached yesterday afternoon. Several TFS and TX National Guard helicopters were used Monday afternoon to drop water on spot fires from blowing embers and try to maintain the fire lines. C-130 heavy air tankers were also dispatched out of San Antonio to drop water and slurry on the fire…without the air support it is estimated that at least 100 additional homes would have been lost yesterday afternoon. Hundreds of power poles and fences have burned with power outages in several areas along with loose cattle. The Houston SPCA is responding to establish an animal/cattle staging and shelter area in Navasota. Walker/Madison County (Midway Fire): Fire continues to burn in Pine forest north of Huntsville. Fire has burned 2,500 acres and threatened about 20 homes. Weaker winds and higher RH values overnight along with near continuous air attack on the north and western flanks of the fire have brought this fire to under 65% contained. TFS dozer crews have cut a significant amount of fire line and 13 fire departments on the ground feel they can hold those lines even if winds pick up this afternoon. Trinity/Polk County (Bearing Fire): This fire has now become the largest wildfire in east Texas history with 20,220 acres burned and 6 structures. Strong winds Monday afternoon resulted in extensive crowning in the Pine tree tops and rapid spread however the fire is burning in mostly rural areas of the Davey Crockett National Forest. 14 fire departments are responding along with TFS ground crews and multiple helicopters and heavy air tankers. Ground crews are having a difficult time cutting fire lines in the thick brush and the air support is greatly helping to bring the fire to now 40% containment. Heavy rains over SE Polk County currently are just missing this fire to the southeast. Jasper County (Powerline Fire): 4,000 acres burned with 1500 homes threatened in the area around Lake Sam Rayburn. Numerous camp house have burned and a voluntary evacuation order remains in effect for the Forest Hill subdivision and Rayburn Country Subdivision. The fire jumped containment lines Sunday evening and crews worked Monday to cut new fire lines on the northern flank of the fire. The fire has shown some crowning and trees burned near large power transmission lines to the City of Jasper and then fell on top of the lines cutting power to the entire town. Other State Fires: Brooks County (S TX): 22,000 acres burned with 65% containment 25 miles SE of Hebbronville. At least 300 fire fighters are working this fire on the ground with heavy rain support. Rain Chances:Moisture has greatly increased along and east of I-45 overnight as noted by numerous showers moving northward from the Gulf of Mexico. The upper trough over the northern plains has helped create a weakness in the ridge over TX and this is allowing a slightly more favorable environment for rainfall production. So far none of the showers have impacted the fire locations, but it was close near the Bearing Fire currently. Expect moisture to gradually spread NW across the region today with scattered showers and thunderstorms developing mainly east of US 59. Additional activity along a weak front over north TX may also send outflow boundaries southward to interact with the increasing moisture to produce additional activity over our fire stricken northern counties late this afternoon and evening. Storm motions have been fairly rapid so far this morning so amounts have been averaging less than .25 of an inch. Storm motions should begin to slow this afternoon and tonight allowing great rainfall amounts under the cells. More widespread activity is expected on Wednesday as the tropical moisture covers nearly all of east TX east of I-35. Should see numerous showers and thunderstorms develop over the Gulf and spread inland during the morning and afternoon hours. Low trigger temperatures and no capping should allow a few rounds of storms to spread inland. Upper ridge begins to become established again by Thursday with best moisture shifting southward as the ridge builds over NW TX. Rain chances will rapidly decrease to 30-40% on Thursday and 20% on Friday and nearly nothing into the weekend while temperatures move back into the upper 90’s. Rainfall Amounts:Rainfall amounts for the next 24-348 hours will average .25 of an inch with isolated amounts of .5-1.5 inches possible. While many locations will see rain a few locations may not see any rain at all especially over our western counties where moisture is lowest. Fire Weather: Should see decent fire weather conditions today as afternoon RH does not fall below 50% and winds should be in the 10-20mph range instead of the 35mph gust of yesterday. Additionally scattered showers and cloud cover will help lower temperatures and keep RH higher this afternoon. The negative continues to be the extremely dry ground fuels. Overall, offensive fire fighting operations will be likely today with both ground and air crews likely to make significant gains on the ongoing fires. Hopefully we can get some of the rains over the ongoing fires and help bring them under control. RH falls and winds pick up again this weekend, and depending on how much rainfall the area receives in the next 24-48 hours fire weather conditions may return to elevated conditions late this weekend. 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Srain Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I'm sort of surprised, but not shocked: COMMISSIONERS COURT BANS FIREWORKS IN RESPONSE TO HISTORIC DROUGHT CONDITIONS Judge Emmett Signs Disaster Order Restricting Sale Or Use Of All Fireworks Throughout Unincorporated Harris County (Harris Co., TX) -- Harris County Judge Ed Emmett signed an order this morning declaring a drought disaster and banning the sale or use of any fireworks anywhere in unincorporated Harris County. Commissioners Court unanimously ratified Emmett’s order moments later, extending its provisions and sending it on to Gov. Rick Perry. With Perry’s approval, the disaster order remains in effect until rescinded by Emmett. Because all 34 municipalities in Harris County already have permanent bans on the sale or use of fireworks within their jurisdictions, the action by Harris County means fireworks are illegal to sell or use throughout the entire county. In addition, most neighboring counties and municipalities have banned or are considering banning fireworks. The only exception to the ban is for a public display “conducted by a person holding a valid pyrotechnic operator’s license or a valid pyrotechnics special effects operator’s license.” “All of us on Commissioners Court recognize public safety as our top responsibility,” Emmett said Tuesday. “I think everyone, from Fire Marshal Mike Montgomery and local fire officials to representatives of the fireworks industry and the general public at large, understands the overwhelming need to take serious preventive action to avert disastrous wildfires from threatening our property, our homes and our families.” Harris County is experiencing unprecedented drought conditions this year, with measurements on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) approaching 750. The KBDI, which ranges from 0 to 800, is a measure of soil moisture and an indicator of fire potential. Commissioners Court implemented a burn ban until July 19 for unincorporated Harris County earlier this year when the KBDI reached 500. Court members extended that ban for 90 days this morning, keeping the county under a full burn ban until mid-October. Violators of the fireworks ban face a $1,000 fine and/or 180 days in jail. Violators of the burn ban face a fine of up to $500 for each violation.<BR clear=all> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 dyer mill fire (grimes co.) now at 30 to 35% containment. rain helped some, but they're still having issues. last i heard it's somewhere north of 5,000 acres burned. kbtx has had a live blog up for a while now http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Brazos_Valley_Wildfire_Live_Blog_124203834.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 dyer mill fire now 50% contained, 32 homes burned, 80 still threatened. some evac areas reopening. restricted zone: http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/Grimes_Evac_Zone1.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 exceptional drought to over 70% of the state. however, this was cut off early tues morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 DoA just designated the entire state a natural disaster area http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/29/national/main20075578.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColLowerPromoArea;morenews gotta love the rather vague CBS headline of "texas declared a disaster" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portastorm Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 June 2011 will go down as the second hottest month on record at Austin's Camp Mabry site and the fourth hottest on record at Austin's airport. http://www.statesman.com/news/local/june-goes-down-as-second-hottest-on-record-1576154.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aslkahuna Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 June was only the 13th warmest in Tucson but we had a record low average dewpoint during the month. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricaneman Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 I pray you guys out in texas and new mexico get some rain soon, just to put a dent in the drought out there and take care of the fires Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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