Dry conditions were a continued problem in February. Dry fuels and mild temperatures—along with gusty winds— created several days with high fire danger.
Feb. 17 was a particularly bad day as a fire ignited near Beaver, Oklahoma, and quickly spread through northwest Oklahoma into southern Kansas. The Ranger Road Fire burned 280,000 acres. Structure and livestock loss were sadly reported due to the fire, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
On that same day very strong winds were recorded with a 73 miles per hour gust in Lubbock, Texas; 68 mph gust in Garden City, Kansas; and 67 mph gust in Guymon, Oklahoma.
That same day several spots in the Plains notched daily record highs with 88 degrees Fahrenheit in San Angelo, Texas; 85 degrees in Medicine Lodge, Kansas; and 79 degrees in McCook, Nebraska.
A couple days later the temperature soared to 95 degrees in Harlingen, Texas, which marked a new record high there.
Despite those days of record warmth, there were some stretches of cold in February, too.
Now looking ahead for March, above average temperatures are expected for all the southern and central Plains. During the month, above normal precipitation is
also forecast from northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas along with central and eastern Nebraska.
As we look through May, temperatures will still average above seasonal norms for Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Meanwhile, precipitation will be below normal for western Texas, western Oklahoma, western and central Kansas as well as western and central Nebraska.
With this outlook in mind, drought conditions are expected to develop or persist across western Nebraska, and western Texas. Drought conditions will likely continue in the next few months for western Oklahoma and southern Texas.
From the global perspective, La Niña conditions remain with a transition to ENSO-neutral expected sometime in the next few months. Beyond that, ENSO-neutral is expected to remain into the summer.
I’m always keeping an eye to the sky (and the weather patterns), so watch for next month’s update.
Editor’s note: Regina Bird grew up on a farm near Belleville, Kansas. The views from the farm helped spur her interest in weather. Following high school, she went on to get a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from the University of Kansas. She worked as a television meteorologist for nine years in Nebraska. Follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter): @ReginaBirdWX.
