Red Flag Warning Issued for South Plains and Texas Panhandle Through Thursday
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on April 6, 2026, 4 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
Areazine synthesizes this NWS weather alert directly from NOAA's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for parts of the Texas Panhandle and South Plains due to strong winds and low humidity, creating critical fire conditions.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Red Flag Warning
- Affected area
- South Plains and Southern Texas Panhandle
- Issued
- April 6, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Lubbock
Fire-weather notices describe conditions that can support rapid fire spread; they do not report that a fire is present. Check local emergency sources for any active incident.
Record status: historical. It was issued 4 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in South Plains and Southern Texas Panhandle.
Alert Details
The National Weather Service in Lubbock has issued a Red Flag Warning for critical fire weather conditions. This alert is in effect for the far southern Texas Panhandle, northern South Plains, and northern Rolling Plains. Additionally, a Fire Weather Watch has been issued for the following day.
Affected Areas
The warning impacts the following Texas counties:
- Parmer
- Castro
- Swisher
- Briscoe
- Bailey
- Lamb
- Hale
- Floyd
- Cochran
- Hockley
- Lubbock
- Crosby
What You Should Do
Residents in the affected areas are strongly discouraged from engaging in any outdoor burning. A Red Flag Warning indicates that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. Any fires that develop can spread rapidly. Residents should monitor later forecasts for possible updates.
Expected Conditions
Weather conditions are expected to be conducive to rapid fire growth due to a combination of dry fuels, low humidity, and high winds:
- Wind: For Thursday, west to northwest winds of 20 to 25 mph are expected, with gusts reaching up to 40 mph. For Friday, west winds are forecast at 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.
- Humidity: Relative humidity levels are forecast to drop as low as 10 percent on Thursday and 12 percent on Friday.
- Fuels: Vegetation and other fuels in the region are currently reported as dry.
Timeline
- Red Flag Warning: In effect from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM CST on Thursday, February 19.
- Fire Weather Watch: In effect from Friday morning through Friday evening, February 20.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
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