Texas wildfires News

Texas A&M Forest Service Activates Airtanker Base to Help Combat Wildfires

In response to rising wildfire activity across the state, the Texas A&M Forest Service is opening the Austin Airtanker Base at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Significant fire activity has increased recently, particularly in northwest Texas, Central Texas and the Cross Timbers …

Extreme Weather Risk Grows as Warming Earth Disrupts High-Altitude Winds: Study

Scorching summer heatwaves and downpours are set to become more extreme in the northern hemisphere as global warming makes weather patterns linger longer in the same place, scientists said on Monday. They said there was a risk of “extreme extremes” …

Fires, Floods & Heatwaves on 3 Continents: Blame the Jet Stream, a Warming World

Sweltering? Swimming? Choking on wildfire smoke? Blame it on the jet stream and a warming world. Kinked, buckled, stuck or stalled, it doesn’t matter how you describe it, the jet stream — the ribbon of wind that circles the Earth …

Wildfires Burn in Texas as High Heat, Low Humidity Persist

Triple digit temperatures, low humidity and extreme drought conditions across much of Texas have firefighters battling wildfires and residents doing their best to escape the heat. The state’s largest wildfire, the Harmon Road Fire, continues to burn in Coryell County …

La Nina Adds to Wildfire Threat in South Central, Plains States

Conditions are ripe for winter wildfires from the mid-South through the Great Plains thanks to a combination of weather factors, including the climate phenomenon known as La Nina, that have left a lot of dry growth. In addition to the …

Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas Wildfires Tracked by New Satellite

When wildfires scorched more than 1 million acres in early March across parts of the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and Kansas, forecasters used a new weather satellite to see the infernos developing, almost in real time. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports …

6 Texas Counties Declared Disaster Areas Following Wildfires

Six counties in the Texas Panhandle have been declared disaster areas by Gov. Greg Abbott following the deadly wildfires that swept through the area on March 6 – 7 burning more than 440,000 acres. Abbott’s March 11 declaration helps clear …

Firefighters Gaining on Control of 2 Large Texas Wildfires

Firefighters have more fully contained two large wildfires in West Texas, including one that destroyed four homes and prompted the evacuation of nearly 1,200 others. Texas A&M Forest Service spokesman Phillip Truitt said March 1 that a fire in Swisher …

Wildfires Threat in Texas Increased Over Past 15 Years

Larger, more threatening wildfires are occurring at greater rates as Texas faces lingering drought, consistent development — driven by millions of new residents and the spread of outlying suburbs — and changes in how the state’s land is used. Texas …

Texas’ Population Spread, Wildfires Bring New Era of Firefighting

A top state fire official says the changing landscape of Texas, driven by millions of new residents and the spread of exurbia, has coincided with an unprecedented wave of large wildfires that are occurring more regularly. Texas A&M Forest Service …