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my Cowboys my Rockets my Astros Unprecedented wildfires burn across Texas.
Thousands of homes are threatened and over 40,000 acres have burned in the last 36 hours . 700 homes have been lost in the last 48 hours.
Texas Forest Service has responded to 22 new fires on Monday burning 7544 acres. In the past 7 days there have been 181 large fires which have burned 118,413 acres.
Weather:
Winds finally clamed overnight as the remains of Lee moved NE into the NE US and surface high pressure built into Texas. This has resulted in much weaker winds of less than 5mph for most of the night allowing ground crews the ability to make offensive attacks on the fires. However RH values have not recovered much with the very dry air mass in place (only around 50%) this morning and will begin to fall very quickly by mid morning. RH values this afternoon will fall to less than 20% across the entire region. Winds will begin to increase around mid morning and peak during the afternoon hours around 10-15mph (about 10mph less than yesterday). With weaker winds today ground crews will have better ability to make and hold fire lines and start to defensive operations. Given the very dry vegetation, crown runs are still possible especially on the hotter fires, but they should not be as long lived or as extensive as Sunday/Monday when driven by the powerful winds.
Extended:
By the end of the week, forecast models are trying to develop a tropical system over the Bay of Campeche on the tail end of the cold front that moved through Sunday. Pressure gradient looks like it may begin to tighten again with winds developing from the E and ESE. With RH remaining fairly low, critical fire weather concerns may develop again with potential for wind driven fires returning. This threat will remain until widespread wetting rains fall. If no rains fall, similar conditions to this weekend will be experienced behind each fall cold front and some very large fires can be expected. No rain is expected for the next 10-14 days!
Note: First few visible images this morning show extensive smoke across much of east/central and south Texas from the ongoing fires. An air quality alert has been issued today for Harris County has this smoke will combine with light winds to produce poor air quality.
All Texas Forest Service and Texas military forces aircraft are currently deployed. Texas has activated its mutual aid agreements with other states and additional heavy air tankers and super heavy air tankers will be arriving today from the western US states. Air and ground attacks today will likely help bring some of the fires under containment or at least slow their forward spread.
Bastrop Fire:
30,000 acres burned, 520 homes lost, 1,000 homes threatened. Fire continues to burn southward and eastward. Heavy air support from both air tankers and helicopters continue to work this fire along with at least 1500 fire fighters. At least 20 subdivisions are evacuated and 5-6 have burned completely. HWY 71 and Hwy 21 are closed. This is currently the largest fire burning in the state of Texas. FEMA Grant was received on this fire. 60% of Bastrop State Park has now burned. This fire is 0% contained.
Grimes County Fire:
3,000 acres burned, unknown containment. 20 homes lost, at least 150 homes are immediately threatened and over 300 more homes in the fire path. Mandatory evacuation order remains in effect for 8,000 residents in Grimes, Waller, and Montgomery Counties. Fire has been showing extreme behavior and tree crowning west of Magnolia and continues to actively burn southward. A FEMA Management Assistance Grant was received on this fire. Fire is 0% contained.
Spicewood Fire (Travis County):
6500 acres burned, 67 homes have been lost. The fire has jumped the Pedernales River and continues to burn southward. Numerous evacuations orders are in place. At least 500 homes are threatened. Fire is 80% contained. FEMA grant was received.
Steiner Ranch Fire (Travis County):
125 acre, 35 homes burned. 1000 homes threatened. Fire is 40% contained. FEMA Grant was received.
Montgomery County (Tamina Rd):
150 acres burned. Appears to be contained. 200 homes evacuated, with 400 additional threatened.
Union Chapel Fire (Bastrop County):
750 acres burned. 10% contained. 25 homes burned on the west side of Bastrop. Mandatory evacuations in place for western City of Bastrop. Heavy air support was unable to contain the fire.
Fayette County Fire:
Fie continues to burn near Ruttersville, 2000 acres burned, 7 homes lost (fire is 50% contained).
Houston County:
150 acres burning in heavy timber east of I-45. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for CR 4505,4529,4120,4520,8120,4130,4141,4145, PR 9542,8015, and Possum Pass Rd. Unknown containment. 15 homes have been lost.
Leon County Fire:
3,000 acres burned near Robbins. 300 homes evacuated, 15 homes were lost. Unknown containment.
Walker County Fire:
Fire is burning 200 acres east of I-45. Unknown containment. 30 homes are being evacuated, 5 homes have been lost.
Colorado County Fire:
Fire has burned 3500 acres in mainly grass and shrubs. 8 homes have been lost. Fire is 50% contained.
Caldwell County Fire:
8000 acres have burned. Fire is 45% contained.
my Cowboys my Rockets my Astros
FEMA promising help as Bastrop keeps burning
Updated: Tuesday, 06 Sep 2011, 12:05 PM CDT
Published : Sunday, 04 Sep 2011, 7:02 PM CDT
Jarrod Wise
Erin Cargile
AUSTIN (KXAN) - Residents of Steiner Ranch will be allowed to return to their homes at noon on Tuesday to assess the damages, officials said.
Bastrop has canceled all classes on Wednesday, as officials did on Tuesday.
An update issued Tuesday morning from the Texas Forest Service about wildfires in the state is as follows:
New large fires from Monday -- more than 100 acres in timber, 300 acres in lighter fuel or where homes were lost
Riley Road, Grimes County. 3,000 acres, unknown containment. The fire is exhibiting extreme fire behavior as it burns rapidly west of Magnolia. At least 20 homes have been destroyed, with 150 immediately threatened and hundred more in its path. The fire is actively moving to the south.
Tamina Road , Montgomery County. 150 acres, unknown containment. Two hundred homes have been evacuated in and near the Woodlands and an additional 400 are within a one-fourth of a mile of the fire.
Union Chapel, Bastrop County. 750 acres, 10 percent contained. Twenty-five homes were destroyed on this fire just west of Bastrop. Aircraft responded immediately after the fire was reported, but were ineffective in the windy conditions.
Moonglow, Williamson County. 300 acres, no containment. This fire is burning in Leander where 150 homes were threatened. Thirteen homes are reported lost.
Peters Chapel, Harrison County. 600 acres, unknown containment. The fire is burning actively in pine plantation. Numerous homes have been evacuated. There are no reports of losses.
#552, Upshur County. 200 acres, unknown containment. The fire is burning in timber. Three homes were lost and dozens remain threatened.
#854, Walker County. 200 acres, unknown containment. Thirty homes have been evacuated, five homes were destroyed.
#507, Anderson County. 1,200 acres, unknown containment.
#505 Rusk County. 400 acres, unknown containment.
#504, Anderson County. 800 acres, unknown containment.
Uncontained fires from previous days:
Bastrop County: 30,000 -- no containment. Heavy airtankers and single-engine airtankers assisted on this fire that started in the Lost Pines area just northeast of Bastrop. The fire continues to move rapidly to the south, with some eastward movement. Numerous subdivisions have been evacuated. Reports indicate nearly 600 homes have been destroyed.
Pedernales Bend, Travis County: 6,500 acres, 40 percent contained. The fire is burning 4 miles southeast of Spicewood. Sixty-seven homes were destroyed. The fire has jumped the Pedernales River and is burning actively towards the south.
Bear Creek (#536), Cass County. 7,000 acres, no containment. The fire is burning in heavy timber and is threatened a gas facility and chicken houses.
Steiner Ranch, Travis County. 125 acres, 40 percent contained. The fire started just north of the Steiner Ranch subdivision. More than 1,000 homes were evacuated. Thirty-five homes were destroyed. A Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System strike team responded.
Henderson #495, Anderson County. 3,700 acres, unknown containment. Three homes were saved.
#491, Limestone County. 3,000 acres, unknown containment. Six homes were saved and one was lost on this fire 20 miles east of Waco.
Delhi , Caldwell County. 8,000 acres, 40 percent contained. Twenty homes were saved and six were lost on this fire east of Lockhart.
Bailey, Colorado County. 1,500 acres, 50 percent contained. This fast-moving fire threatened 40 homes near Columbus.
Moore, Smith County. 1,300 acres, 90 percent contained. Ten homes were evacuated and five were lost on this fire burning on the Smith/Gregg County line. Two civilian fatalities were reported.
Diana (#545), Upshur County. 750 acres, unknown containment. The fire is burning in grass and timber. Twenty homes are threatened.
Lutherhill , Fayette County. 2,000 acres, 50 percent contained. The community of Ruttersville was evacuated. Seven homes are reported lost.
Bonbiew Ranch, Van Zandt County. 350 acres, 80 percent contained. Twenty homes were saved southeast of Canton.
Clemanis, Upshur County. 500 acres, 90 percent contained. Twenty homes were saved on this timber fire.
#543, Gregg County. 300 acres, unknown containment. The fire is burning in pine and hardwood. Numerous homes were saved, none lost. The fire is burning in hardwood and pine.
#538, Harrison County. 200 acres, contained. One hundred fifty homes were evacuated in a trailer park east of Longview.
#502, Nacogdoches County. 2,900 acres, unknown containment. More than a dozen homes have been evacuated, but none lost.
Arbor, Houston County. 150 acres, unknown containment. The fire is burning in timber. Up to 15 homes reported lost.
Kennedy Road, Rusk County. 150 acres, unknown containment. Numerous homes threatened, one lost.
Pettytown, Caldwell County. 200 acres, 90 percent contained. Twenty homes were saved east of Lockhart.
Old Magnolia, Gregg County. 500 acres, unknown containment. Several structures and a gas plant are threatened. Two fuel tanks exploded.
South Sulphur, Hunt County. 100 acres, 70 percent contained. Five homes were threatened and two were destroyed.
#839, Leon County (Concord Robbins). 600 acres, unknown containment. At least 15 homes are reported lost and more than 300 were evacuated.
101 Ranch, Palo Pinto County. 6,555 acres, 85 percent contained. The fire is burning on the south side of Possum Kingdom Lake near the town of Brad. Thirty-nine homes and nine RVs have been reported destroyed.
Houstonia wrote:Even if we get a tropical system to actually hit southeast Texas - it would have to dump a lot of rain, and it would have to move over central Texas in order to really alleviate this drought.
I can't even imagine what winter is going to be like if this continues - Every cold front causing this fire danger (according to Jeff Lindner's update)? That's horrible.
I hate working where I do (CyFair) because of the sea of concrete that seems to surround me up here - but at least it won't let the grass fires through. Sad commentary when I choose cement over nature.
Portastorm wrote:The worst thing in the world for us now is wind. The "fuels" are available and in ample supply. Extremely dry trees, brush, grasses, etc. As long as our drought continues ... these fuels will be available to burn. The dryness of the atmosphere also appears to be a given as long as prevailing winds are NOT out of the Gulf.
But it is the winds gusting above 20 mph that make the fires so dangerous and so unpredictable.
If we see another tropical system develop and move north to our east ... that will just make a replay of this past weekend. I absolutely shudder when I think about it.
Sadly, things won't improve until we see some rain. And that appears unlikely right now.
South Texas Storms wrote:Portastorm wrote:The worst thing in the world for us now is wind. The "fuels" are available and in ample supply. Extremely dry trees, brush, grasses, etc. As long as our drought continues ... these fuels will be available to burn. The dryness of the atmosphere also appears to be a given as long as prevailing winds are NOT out of the Gulf.
But it is the winds gusting above 20 mph that make the fires so dangerous and so unpredictable.
If we see another tropical system develop and move north to our east ... that will just make a replay of this past weekend. I absolutely shudder when I think about it.
Sadly, things won't improve until we see some rain. And that appears unlikely right now.
Well said Porta. I see no rain for at least the next week. I've just been depressed and feeling helpless the past year. I never knew it would be so hard just to get some rain around here.
Portastorm wrote:The worst thing in the world for us now is wind. The "fuels" are available and in ample supply. Extremely dry trees, brush, grasses, etc. As long as our drought continues ... these fuels will be available to burn. The dryness of the atmosphere also appears to be a given as long as prevailing winds are NOT out of the Gulf.
But it is the winds gusting above 20 mph that make the fires so dangerous and so unpredictable.
If we see another tropical system develop and move north to our east ... that will just make a replay of this past weekend. I absolutely shudder when I think about it.
Sadly, things won't improve until we see some rain. And that appears unlikely right now.
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