Randy, I know it's been there for at least a year. I think that when they reformatted (was that last year?), it suddenly appeared out of nowhere. There was a prior fire info page I used to look at, but it wasn't nearly as wonderful as this one is. I look at this page every single day (sometimes many times a day because it updates so often) and check our Keetch-Byram Drought Index numbers which, right now, are the highest I can remember seeing since we've been here. I had a harder time finding the KBDI back during the 2005-2006 drought and usually could only find a color-coded map that gave an approximate range. Every now and then a local weather forecaster or a NWS fire weather advisory statement would give us an approx. KBDI range for southcentral OK. On bad fire weather days, I tell our firefighters what the burning index and spread component are so they can have them in mind while fighting fires. The spread component, humidity and wind speed/direction are critical numbers we need when fighting a large grassfire. The ignition component and fuel moisture loads are helpful, too, and I use the dispersal conditions not just to estimate how heavy smoke will be, but to figure out if it is a good day to spray something or to run the sprinkler. Sometimes, this year, the spread component has been scarey-high, especially on days when the wind exceeds 30 m.p.h. At our monthly fire meetings, I tell the firefighters the current KBDI--and when it got to 630, we thought things were as bad as they could be Now that it is at 669, we all are really nervous about leaving our homes for more than a few minutes. It is very rare for anyone here to ever have a KBDI of 700 and I think it would take prolonged exceptional drought, or daily winds that were exceptionally high, to cause that to occur. Once the KDBI exceeds 600, even live plants, organic material in soil, underground roots, etc. will burn. When the town of Ringgold, Texas, burned in 15 minutes on Jan. 1, 2006, I believe their KBDI was only about 630 and the firefighters had no chance of stopping a wildfire driven by winds in excess of 50 m.p.h. One of the reasons that the prospect of grassfires and wildfires bothers me so much is that I know I'd lose organic material in the soil that I've been putting there for 10 years now. I'm not even worried about the house burning.....it is insured. My veggie garden and flower beds are not. : ) In 2005-2006 we had underground roots smoulder and smoke for days and days after a fire. People would see smoke literally rising from the ground and would call 9-1-1 to report a "fire". It was insane and kept the fire depts. running to certain areas repeatedly to check out the reports of smoke. There, I've told you more than you asked, but I just wanted to emphasize how much I love this page. Since our idiot county commissioners (and they know who they are) lifted the burn ban "temporarily" this week to let people burn accumulated trash, brush, pastures (awful decison!), etc., the fire depts. have been busy, esp. the ones in the western portion of the county. I've been spending a lot of time monitoring the OKFIRE page because of it. I also like the Burn Ban map.....just because it is a good barometer of how dry it is around the state. I hope our commissioners reinstate the burn ban next week. I have the sprinkler running outside right now because today's fire danger is so extreme. Enjoy the lovely weekend weather. I bet your plants are loving the heat in the greenhouse! Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Burn Ban map (updates constantly)

Suzie, You're welcome. I always try to post high wind or high fire danger watches and warnings at this time of year because they can be just as dangerous as convective storms, and last April's horrible wildfire day is a perfect example of that. Today I think my seedlings will have to stay in the fairly dimly-lit barn because forecast winds here will be in the 20-40s with gusts as high as 55 mph here along the Red River. There's no way I'll subject all my flats of spring veggie seedlings to those winds. From experience, at 55 mph, we'll see trash cans, lawn furniture and even trampolines blowing around. I dread days like this. In the past, they have brought down power lines, started fires and even blown my tiny peaches and plums off the trees. I know March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. Here in southern OK, it came in like a lamb and I guess it is going to go out like a lion. Keep your grandscon anchored down! Almost half the state remains under a Wind Advisory today. Dawn

It is over, and I guess we made it through a potentially bad day without major trouble. Now, here comes the rain.

The Red Flag Fire Warning for a few counties in western Oklahoma has been extended through 1 a.m. Saturday morning.