What came to be the second largest wildfire on record for the state of Nebraska ripped through the sandhills of north central Nebraska during the afternoon and evening hours of Tuesday, March 16th . Flare-ups then continued into the following day. By day's end Wednesday, March 17th, 1999, nearly 72,000 acres of grassland had burned, numerous cattle had perished, and one ranch house had burned. The meteorological setup was marked by gusty west winds at the surface, ahead of a cold front due to arrive in central Nebraska during the evening of March 16. The National Weather Service Warning Forecast Office (WFO) in North Platte played a vital role in the ultimate control of the fire by issuing timely spot forecasts.
Forecasters at the WFO in North Platte were called on frequently to provide detailed forecasts primarily of wind direction and speed, which gusted, at times, to near 50 mph after the cold frontal passage that occurred around 9 PM CST on March 16th. This paper will look at the meteorological events leading up to the fire, which started near an abandoned house near the town of Mullen, as well as the use of the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) in making those forecasts . This will include a look at the passage of the cold front that changed the direction of fire spread, ultimately culminating in the evacuation of a small town in its path, during the early morning hours of March 17, 1999.
Author correspondence :
John W. Stoppkotte
NWS North Platte
5250 E. Lee Bird Dr.
North Platte, NE 69101
Phone : (308) 532-4936
FAX: (308) 532-9557
E-mail: john.stoppkotte@noaa.gov
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