Many areas are in drought,(see drought map here
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html ) mine included in SW Texas hill country. My last measurable rain, excluding 1 or 2 hundreths of an inch a few times, was on 11-25-07 with 0.54 inch. Wednesday through Friday shows a continuation of Red Flag Warnings with high winds predicted each day. We had a dust storm Tuesday and another expected Thursday. We dont normally get blowing dust in this part of the state. It is coming from 200-300 miles away in west Texas.
In remote areas, wildfires are often reported by hams, especially in areas where cell phone coverage is lacking.