In the wake of thick high clouds this morning and one rogue high wind gust from virga near Vigo Park (Swisher County), intense southwest winds expanded east across all of the South Plains and far southwest Texas Panhandle under clearing skies.  High winds sustained at 40 mph or greater were commonplace, along with several peak wind gusts of 58 to 60 mph. Widespread blowing dust was prevalent, with visibilities as low as three miles at Lubbock International Airport during the height of the wind late in the afternoon. An Emergency Manager confirmed that part of a roof was blown off a small business in Brownfield (Terry County) during the height of the windstorm.
The high winds along with single digit relative humidity and dormant fuels bred an extremely critical wildfire situation. This was realized southwest of Sundown (Hockley County) and also in Tulia (Swisher County) where wildfires grew to 8600 and 2200 acres, respectively. The Tulia wildfire spread so rapidly that fire crews were unable to save four homes and 20 outbuildings from the flames. Fortunately, no injuries or fatalities occurred.
The Texas Forest Service reported that a wildfire began south of the Tulia Prison and rapidly grew east to Interstate 27, before crossing the highway and threatening up to 1100 homes at one point. Following a mandatory evacuation of residents in the Mackenzie Hills housing area in southwest Tulia, four homes and eight outbuildings were consumed by the intense wildfire.  Fortunately, officials with the help of two fire suppression planes saved 20 other homes from burning.  The wildfire consumed about 2200 acres in total.
Another massive wildfire began in Yoakum County and spread to Hockley and Terry Counties. It burned about 5100 acres in southwest Hockley County and for a while threatened the city of Sundown. Although no evacuation order was issued, some residents just south of Sundown were directly threatened until fire personnel dug fire lines to stop the fire's rapid progress to the northeast. Damages consisted of two small outbuildings that were completely burned along with several utility poles in oil fields that would require replacing from fire damage. This wildfire burned about 1500 acres in far northwest Terry County and caused no known damage to structures. Yoakum county saw about 2000 acres burned from this wildfire.
The following wind gusts were measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet:
Dimmitt (Castro County) 67 mph, Plains (Yoakum County) 65 mph, Friona (Parmer County) 64 mph, Muleshoe (Bailey County) 64 mph, Levelland (Hockley County) 63 mph, Vigo Park (Swisher County) 61 mph, Morton (Cochran County) 61 mph, Amherst (Lamb County) 60 mph, Reese Center (Lubbock County) 60 mph, Abernathy (Hale County) 59 mph, and Silverton (Briscoe County) 58 mph.
Strong sustained winds were also measured by the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet and are as follows:
New Home (Lynn County) 46 mph, Floydada (Floyd County) 41 mph, and Ralls (Crosby County) 41 mph.

High Wind in PARMER, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 13:50:00 to 28-FEB-17 16:45:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 38.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in CASTRO, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 13:50:00 to 28-FEB-17 17:05:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in SWISHER, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 07:50:00 to 28-FEB-17 07:50:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 53.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in SWISHER, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 14:21:00 to 28-FEB-17 17:49:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 35.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in BRISCOE, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 16:15:00 to 28-FEB-17 16:15:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in BAILEY, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 15:15:00 to 28-FEB-17 16:55:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in LAMB, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 13:30:00 to 28-FEB-17 18:35:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in HALE, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 15:35:00 to 28-FEB-17 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in FLOYD, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 17:30:00 to 28-FEB-17 18:30:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in COCHRAN, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 12:50:00 to 28-FEB-17 16:10:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 35.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in HOCKLEY, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 14:35:00 to 28-FEB-17 18:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in LUBBOCK, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 14:15:00 to 28-FEB-17 18:15:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 35.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in CROSBY, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 15:50:00 to 28-FEB-17 16:50:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 36.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in YOAKUM, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 14:05:00 to 28-FEB-17 16:30:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 35.00 MS
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in LYNN, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 14:48:00 to 28-FEB-17 17:35:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 35.00 MS
Property damage: 15.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Wildfire in SWISHER, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 16:00:00 to 28-FEB-17 22:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 200.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

Wildfire in TERRY, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 15:00:00 to 28-FEB-17 23:00:00 (CST-6)
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

Wildfire in HOCKLEY, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 15:00:00 to 28-FEB-17 23:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 60.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

High Wind in TERRY, TEXAS
From 28-FEB-17 17:51:00 to 28-FEB-17 17:51:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager