AASC Newsletter – March 2026

Shortly before noon on February 17, 2026, a fire broke out in Beaver County, Oklahoma, and rapidly grew as southwest winds gusted over 60 mph. By the early afternoon hours, dark smoke filled the skies around the Ashland, Kansas, area as the fire quickly advanced northeast toward the Kansas border. Flames from the fire became visible shortly before 4:30 p.m. on the Kansas Mesonet tower camera 8 miles south of Ashland. Subsequent images showed the rapidly moving wildfire approaching the site. At 4:35 p.m., the last image was captured showing a line of fire just yards away from the site, with the site going offline at 4:36 p.m.

Winds at the Ashland site leading up to the fire were gusting over 50 mph at 10 meters and around 40 mph at 2 meters. Relative humidity was quite dry with values as low as 9 percent. The air temperature was unseasonably warm that afternoon, ranging from the upper 70s to low 80s. As the smoke became thicker, solar radiation values dropped considerably into the 100-300 W/m² range and eventually to zero at 4:30 p.m.

The Ashland Mesonet site’s land owner lives close by, so there was great concern about the safety of him and his family along with his livestock. Two days after the fire, we heard back from the cooperator that he and his family were safe, but had lost just under 200 cattle, his barns, and his son’s house next door. We were given permission to visit the site and the area the following day, three days after the fire.

Driving through Clark County features rolling hills, grassland, dryland farms, and ranching. The Asland Mesonet site was always surrounded by knee high grass with cattle grazing nearby. The landscape across the southern part of the county looked unrecognizable with no grass and vegetation. As the cooperator said when he first sent photos of the area, “Ever been to Mars?”. As far as the eye could see there was barren land with a sense of unease knowing a catastrophic event had just occurred in this region that impacted many lives.

Driving down the access road to reach the cooperator’s farm typically means running into cattle where they will reluctantly move, with the calves quickly running to their mothers, but the cattle that did survive looked exhausted and scared with no energy to move. After meeting with the cooperator and the folks helping with his cattle, cleanup and damage assessors, the site was reached, but with no grass to drive through, just bare soil.

The Mesonet tower itself was still standing tall with the altershields around the rain gauges and fence around the site. The 2-meter anemometer, solar radiation shield for the temperature sensor, rain gauges, and weighing rain gauge all melted. The heat from the fire had melted the 10-meter anemometer with the propeller melting in such a way as it blew in the wind it looked as if small pieces of twine were stuck on it and blowing in the wind. The cables for the equipment were melted together with battery acid leaking. The fire did not impact the cables or equipment inside the shelter (“the Nema box”), with the datalogger and modem looking as if nothing had happened. After some time looking over the equipment, it was clear that the station would need a complete overhaul as no equipment was salvageable with the charge controller struggling to properly power the datalogger and modem. Plans were already in place the day after the fire to begin prepping and packing new equipment to quickly get the site operational again.

A week after the fire, technicians Jake Thompson and Kevin Rogosch spent a day carefully removing the damaged equipment and installed brand new instruments to get data up and running in that area once again. The first observation after the fire was made at 1 p.m. on February 24: 70°, 10-meter winds from the southwest at 8 mph, and relative humidity 13 percent.

– Jake Thompson, Technician, Kansas Mesonet