The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center warned of "near historic" fire conditions in the Plains.

An outbreak of wildfires fueled by dry conditions and hurricane-force winds was rapidly spreading across the Texas Panhandle and parts of Oklahoma on Friday, prompting evacuations, wreaking havoc on the roads and leaving thousands without power.

Experts reported that the most likely place for a wildfire to spark is an area extending into north Texas across central Oklahoma into southeast Kansas. It was reported that winds, in extreme cases, c