A dust storm limits visibility on Highway 84 outside of Shallowater
A dust storm limited visibility for drivers on U.S. Highway 84 outside of Shallowater on March 18, 2025.
Severe winds and a dust storm were being blamed for wildfires, power outages and highway closures Tuesday evening around the Texas Panhandle-South Plains.
Local and state fire crews were facing red flag conditions and blowing dust in near-zero visibility as they battled several major wildfires that flared up with this latest round of high winds in West Texas
A portion of Interstate 27 between Canyon and Happy in the Panhandle was temporarily closed Tuesday evening as the dust storm reduced visibility, but had been re-opened by shortly after 10 p.m.
And crews from Xcel Energy and area utilities were reporting thousands of power outages around the region.
Much of the Panhandle-South Plains region was under a red flag warning, a high wind warning along with a blowing dust warning in effect into Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. For the blowing dust warning, widespread blowing dust was reducing visibility to less than 1/4 mile, while the high wind warning was for southwest to west winds from 35 to 45 mph and gusts upwards of 65 mph.
«Severely limited visibilities are expected,» reads a statement from the National Weather Service in Lubbock. «Travel will be dangerous and possibly life-threatening. High winds may move loose debris, damage property and cause power outages. Travel could be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.»
Road, highway closures in West Texas
Portions of FM 1559 and SH 136 west of Borger were closed due to blowing dust and smoke. US 385 north of Dalhart to the Texas-Oklahoma state line along with nearby FM 296 were also closed due to blowing dust and smoke.
Local, state crews battle Double S, High Lonesome wildfires in Texas Panhandle
Local and state fire crews were battling a number of large wildfires Tuesday in the Panhandle, including the Double S fire in Hutchinson County, which had burned more than 350 acres just west of Borger and was 5% contained and the High Lonesome fire in Dallam County, which had burned more than 15,000 acres and was 50% contained by shortly after 10 p.m., according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
The Double S fire prompted evacuations in portions of Borger, although there were no immediate reports of structure damage, according to a Facebook live briefing from the city of Borger about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The Windmill Fire in Roberts County, which began Friday during another spell of high winds, was still active as of Tuesday, having burned more than 23,000 acres. It was 99% contained.
High winds leave thousands without power in West Texas, eastern New Mexico
More than 10,000 Xcel Energy customers were without power by about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. Among major outages were about 2,200 around Hobbs and more than 6,200 near Borger, according to Xcel Energy’s outage map.
In Lubbock, fewer than 100 customers were impacted by scattered outages, according to Lubbock Power & Light’s outage map. That includes lingering outages on the Texas Tech campus following a series of fires and explosions linked to the university’s underground utility infrastructure on March 12.
