The rains encouraged vegetation growth, which then dried out over the winter drought leaving more potential fuel.
[1] At Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, only 0.36 inches (9.1 mm) of rain fell in the first two months of the year.
[7] Texas governor Rick Perry declared the entire state a disaster area, describing it as a "tinderbox", and called for firefighters and fire equipment to combat the blazes.
A fire in a rural area in Callisburg and Walnut Bend, near the Oklahoma border in Cooke County, was still burning on December 29.
The fire started five miles (8.0 km) west of the city along Highway 36 and westerly winds of up to 30 mph (48 km/h) spread the flames into town burning a total of 7,665 acres (31 km2) of land.
The fire spared the near-century-old house (now a museum) of Robert E. Howard, author of the Conan the Barbarian books.
Outbreaks also occurred in the Texas Panhandle and elsewhere in Oklahoma, burning six homes in Kingfisher and forcing the evacuation of Cement, Reydon, and Cheyenne.
Part of Oklahoma City was evacuated on April 7 when a fire from the previous day was revived by high winds.