From Oklahoma to Colorado, wildfires popped up very quickly Thursday afternoon within hot, windy and dry weather conditions.

Firefighters found it quite difficult to get a handle on these flareups due to the weather conditions. For one, very windy weather was blowing through Thursday afternoon with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour at a number of reporting weather stations. Secondly, record heat was in place across parts of Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma where the air was not only hot, but very dry.

425pm @okmesonet observations in NW OK where some of the larger fires are occurring. Top number is temp. Bottom is relative humidity. pic.twitter.com/BZoWdSeM6u

— Rick Smith (@ounwcm) April 12, 2018

Above picture: A closer look at western Oklahoma Thursday afternoon where red is the temperature, green is dew point temperature, and pink lines are the wind ‘barbs.’ Long story short: Hot, dry, and windy!

These observed high temperatures were well above average for Thursday, April 12 and in some cases record-breaking.

HIGH FIRE DANGER – Brush fires breaking out in Oklahoma due to gusty winds, dry conditions, & warm temperatures. The threat continues across parts of the South and Four Corners on Friday, stay weather aware! #okwx #txwx #nmwx #azwx pic.twitter.com/Ycg0dvF0XW

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) April 12, 2018

The wildfires in Oklahoma were clearly visible from space courtesy NOAA’s GOES East weather satellite.

Here's a look at fires flaring up in Oklahoma this afternoon via #GOES visible satellite imagery courtesy @NOAASatellites #OKwx pic.twitter.com/Ix0GwfgAN9

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) April 12, 2018

Windy, dry, and hot conditions will prevail along the southern Plains and Desert Southwest at least through Tuesday of next week. That will lead to a higher fire danger for several of those days. For now, we know the rest of Thursday and all of Friday will still feature ‘extreme’ fire weather conditions.

Any fires that do flare up can spread very quickly and wildly given these weather conditions. Please report any smoke/wildfires to officials. Obey local burn bans. Use caution with your daily activities and chores to avoid sparking any wildfires.

The combination of hot temperatures, very dry air, strong winds and dry vegetation will lead to extreme wildfire conditions today and Friday. It only takes ONE SPARK to start a wildfire. Pay close attention to local info sources today, especially in far W Oklahoma and W N Texas! pic.twitter.com/8NAReOIAbn

— NWS Norman (@NWSNorman) April 12, 2018

For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Steve Glazier