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Prescribed fire is a common land management tool used in rangelands of the Great Plains. The resulting changes in vegetation leads to increased warming of soil surface temperatures on recently burned sites. This influences microhabitats for ground nesting birds, reptiles, and insects whose bodies reside close the the soil surface. We examined soil surface temperatures of unburned and burned areas from a prescribed fire on 27 July 2016 and lightning-ignited fire on 14 July 2016 in shortgrass rangeland using three methods: infrared gun, soil temperature probe, and iButton temperature data loggers. Measurements were conducted from 1500-1800 on 9 September 2016 during which no clouds were present. Maximum 2 m ambient air temperature for this day was 33.2�C and maximum solar radiation was 893 wm-2. We found a significantly higher soil surface temperature in recently burned areas using all three methods (p<0.01). Variance was highest using the infrared gun and lowest using the soil temperature probe. Each method used had unique benefits: the infrared gun was able to measure litter surface temperature as well as soil surface of unburned areas; the soil temperature probe had the lowest variation between measurements; the iButtons were able to be deployed for long periods of time and record temperatures at defined intervals.