Historic wildfires tore through the southern High Plains this week while winter storms provided drought relief to some regions, highlighting the nation’s stark weather contrasts during late February according to the latest U.S. drought summary. The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Ranger Road Fire became the week’s most destructive blaze, consuming more than 280,000 acres of grassland across northwestern Oklahoma and southwestern Kansas after igniting Feb. 17 in Beaver County, Oklahoma. The fire spread rapidly amid record-setting winds, with gusts reaching 73 mph in Lubbock, Texas, and 67 mph in Guymon, Oklahoma.
Additional fires plagued Texas, where the Lavender Fire burned over 18,000 acres northeast of Vega and destroyed at least 18 structures. The extreme conditions prompted drought officials to introduce moderate drought classifications across northern and western Oklahoma and the northern Texas panhandle.
Meanwhile, California’s Sierra Nevada received approximately 6 inches of snow-water equivalent, improving previously meager mountain snowpack. However, the 4- to 8-foot snowfall totals created travel disruptions and contributed to the nation’s deadliest avalanche in 45 years northwest of Lake Tahoe.
The East Coast faced its own weather extremes when a late-winter blizzard struck the middle and northern Atlantic Coast on Feb. 22-23. Major cities from Philadelphia to Boston received more than a foot of snow, with Providence, Rhode Island, recording a single-storm record of 37.9 inches.
Drought conditions worsen in multiple regions
Despite localized improvements, drought conditions deteriorated across several areas. The Midwest continues experiencing its driest meteorological winter on record in some locations. Paducah, Kentucky, recorded just 3.21 inches of precipitation from Dec. 1 through Feb. 24—only 28 percent of normal.
Even lower totals were reported in Missouri, with West Plains receiving just 1.75 inches during the same period. Extreme drought now extends from southern Missouri into northwestern Ohio.
The Southeast saw mixed results, with Virginia experiencing widespread drought improvement following the coastal storm. However, other areas faced worsening conditions, leading to new pockets of extreme drought in southern Florida, southern Georgia and northern Florida.
In Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve, the National Fire had charred 25,000 acres in Collier County by Feb. 24.
Looking ahead
Forecasters predict continued dry weather for the southwestern United States over the next five days, with record-setting warmth expected. Temperatures could routinely top 90 degrees in southern Texas and the Desert Southwest.
The National Weather Service’s 6- to 10-day outlook calls for warmer-than-normal weather nationwide through March 7, except for parts of New York and New England.
