There are currently 224 counties under a burn ban - including Castro County - the most the state has seen since Oct 24, 2011.
Castro County is currently experiencing extreme to exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor and experiencing the same high temperatures and evaporative effect of other struggling areas of the Panhandle and South Plains region. Residents in the area should use extreme caution as the threat of wildfire increases.
With a persistent lack of rain, increasing dry conditions and a heat wave, many parts of Texas, including the Texas Panhandle, Texas has already had more than 40 days with above 100-degree temperatures. From June 1 to July 18, a combined 27 monthly record-high maximum temperatures have either been tied or broken in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico. Precipitation has been less than 25 percent of normal for this time of year and the evaporative demand has been persistently high for the past four weeks.