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WEATHER EXPERTS SAY VERY HIGH TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER TO CONTINUE IN MANY AREAS
NOAA Meteorologists Assisting Firefighters in Six States

June 21, 2002 — High winds fanned massive wildfires in several locations this week, as hot, dry weather continued across many areas of the United States. NOAA National Weather Service meteorologists said improved weather conditions at some locations helped wildland firefighting crews gain better control of some of the larger fires. (Click NOAA image for larger view of Arizona and Colorado wildfires. This image was produced from data taken by the NOAA-15 satellite on June 20 at 9:49 p.m EDT. Click here for image without annotations.)

On Friday, 18 large fires were burning in eight states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Nationally, 157 new fires were reported with two becoming large fires, one in California and one in Utah.

Land management agencies say nearly two million acres have burned this year, more than doubling the 10-year national average of approximately 888,000 acres for this time of year.

National attention has been focused on the large Hayman Fire in Colorado's Pike-San Isabel National Forest. The fire remains the largest wildfire in the nation at more than 137,000 acres burned and is 45 percent contained. Three National Weather Service specially trained fire weather forecasters, called Incident Meteorologists, are assigned to the Colorado fire. Gusty, erratic winds, and dry fuels are hampering containment efforts.

Colorado has five major fires burning and is facing its worst fire season on record with more than 300,000 acres burned already this year. Hard-to-reach fires like the Missionary Ridge fire in the San Juan National Forest are taking a toll. The fire has already charred nearly 60,000 acres and is approximately 25 percent contained.

Arizona was hit hard Friday when the 120,000 acre Rodeo fire on the Fort Apache reservation began threatening homes. "There is extreme fire behavior on this fire," said Larry Van Bussum, NWS staff meteorologist at the National Interagency Fire Center. "Communities are evacuating and many ranches are threatened," he added. NOAA forecasters are calling for hot weather, low humidity and strong winds to continue in the area.

Weather forecasts through Monday call for continued very high to extreme fire danger conditions in: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington and Wyoming.

According to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., strong winds are expected to continue and will add to the already dry and hot conditions impacting portions of southern California through northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, western Colorado and southern Utah and Nevada. To the north of this area, thunderstorms with strong and gusty winds, are expected over northern Nevada and northern Utah. Low humidities will continue across these same areas on the weekend, though the winds are forecast to be lower.

Fire weather watches covering locations in the West and south-central Colorado call for dry lightning, strong southwest winds, and very low relative humidity. Elsewhere, fire weather watches were also issued for areas in southern Utah and Arizona calling for strong winds, and low relative humidity.

"It looks like California, Colorado, Arizona and Utah are going to continue to be the hot spots in the coming days when it comes to the wildland fires. We currently have eleven IMETS deployed to provide weather support at fires," said Van Bussum.

The long-range fire weather outlook for next week from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is a continuation of hot and dry weather over much of the drought-plagued regions in the West.

The National Weather Service has responded to firefighters' requests for Incident Meteorologists in six states with the fire weather forecasters deployed in California, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Colorado. Six are helping the land management agencies at fires in Colorado. According to Van Bussum, IMETs help land management officials develop strategies to fight the fires based on the current and expected weather conditions and are a critical part of the firefighting team.

"These forecasters are protecting the lives of firefighters on the lines," said Van Bussum. "Right now, a simple lightning strike can be the spark that turns a forested area into an inferno. There were many new large fires reported in the last few days across the nation and our IMETs know their weather forecasts are important elements in helping to develop plans for containing these fires."

NWS National Fire Weather Program Manager Rusty Billingsley added, "Our Weather Service forecast offices keep the firefighters up to speed and what changing weather patterns to expect. The weather can range from high winds, lightning and severe thunderstorms. These conditions vary from state to state but, overall, we'll likely have to continue to point toward extreme fire danger areas in many states."

The National Weather Service forecast offices located in wildland fire areas issue a notice of potentially dangerous situations called red flag warnings or fire weather watches. Red flag warnings were posted Friday for northern Arizona and northwest New Mexico since strong southwest winds, very low relative humidity and extreme fire danger are expected to continue.

"The timber and the forest's fuels continue to be dry because little winter precipitation has occurred in some locations for the past three years. A wildland fire's flames spread rapidly when high winds, hot temperatures and little precipitation exist in an area. Many locations, especially in the West, will need above normal rain to change the drought picture," said Billingsley.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA's Fire Weather Information Center

National Interagency Fire Center — Includes latest news and glossary of wildfire terms

NOAA's Drought Information Center

NOAA's Wildfire Detection

New Fire Product Makes It Easier to Find Fires

Media Contact:
Marilu Trainor, NOAA's National Weather Service western region headquarters, (801) 524-5692 ext. 226 or Keli Tarp, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, (405) 366-0451

 

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