NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INCIDENT METEOROLOGISTS AND FORECASTERS PROVIDING SUPPORT AS WESTERN WILDFIRES CONTINUE
National Preparedness Reaches Highest Levels

August 16, 2001 — Hot and dry conditions have been present for several days across the West. These conditions have contributed to land management agency leaders on Thursday declaring the West at the highest level of fire danger, according to NOAA's National Weather Service. (Click NOAA image for larger view of Chris Gibson, one of the National Weather Service Incident Meteorologist from Salt Lake City, Utah, uses a hand-held radio to provide updated weather observations when he is deployed to a fire camp.)

The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Boise went to Level 5 for fire danger for the first time this year. This the highest alert status on a scale of one to five. The last Level 5 was last summer, when wildfires burned across a million acres in Montana.

National Weather Service meteorologists say a trough of low pressure will move over the Pacific Northwest and northern California by the weekend. The current hot and dry conditions will give way to breezy conditions on Friday and Saturday but with gradual cooling and an increase in moisture.

Ever changing weather conditions and extremely dry landscapes are paramount on everyone's mind as lightning has already sparked nearly 1,000 fires since Sunday. More than 20,00 firefighters battle wildfires across the western United States. Most of the fires are in the Great Basin, in Nevada, Idaho and parts of eastern Oregon. Other areas of most concern are in north-central Washington, southern Oregon and Northern California.

A cadre of National Weather Service meteorologists are supporting the firefighters who are battling wildfires across the West. Meteorologists are working side-by-side with fire managers as they battle the blazes that are raging across the west, threatening communities and nearby structures. (Click NOAA satellite image for larger view of fires in the California area taken August 16, 2001.)

The fire weather offices in the NWS' eight-state Western Region have been very busy over the last week. More than 80 large fires have been reported within the region since last Wednesday, August 8. This past weekend, Nevada alone reported 135 new fires, and the Western Great Basin Geographic Coordination Center—located in Reno, Nevada—had the second busiest day on record filling fire resource orders.

"We're on top of the situation and ensuring our fire agency partners are getting everything they need meteorologically to support the firefighters," said Vickie Nadolski, NWS Western Region's director. "We have 50 specially trained forecasters, called Incident Meteorologists or IMETs. At the fires, the IMETs provide weather briefings, forecasts, and work closely with the fire managers so they can plan and prepare their fire fighting tactics. "

The NWS Incident Meteorologists work throughout the year in many of the agency's forecast offices, but during the fire season, they pack their bags and head to a wildfire that could be burning anywhere from coast to coast. Currently, the NWS has dispatched nine IMETS to fires in Oregon, California, Nevada and Washington. In the past week about 300,000 acres have burned.

In addition, many NWS forecast offices are supporting the multitude of fires by providing spot forecasts to land management agencies officials who need to know the latest weather conditions.

The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, serves as a nationwide command post to provide logistical support during the fire season. It monitors activities that include evacuations, homes that have burned, and which highways and campgrounds are closed. Helicopters and aerial tankers are dumping water on wildfires in the rugged terrain of the West and the firefighters and their resources are stretched thin.

Larry Van Bussen, the NWS' meteorologist assigned to support the interagency fire center, begins each day analyzing satellite imagery, reviewing computerized weather models, and talking to meteorologists in the offices and at the fires as he prepares for his weather briefing to the assembled leaders at NIFC.

"Each day, the fire managers are involved in a myriad of intra-agency coordination activities to structure the next deployment of firefighters and equipment. Similarly, I'm planning ahead so the NWS can support the next request for deployment of IMETs," Van Bussen said.

Relevant Web Sites
Updated forecast information is available on the home pages of local National Weather Service offices. These pages are organized by geographic regions of the country.

NOAA's Fire Weather Information Center

For additional information on the NOAA's Fire Weather Program, please visit NOAA's National Fire Forecasts, Offices and Outlooks, Boise, Idaho.

Latest NOAA Satellite Images of Fires

NOAA's NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTERS PROVIDE CRITICAL SUPPORT TO WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT

All About Wild Fires

NOAA's Fire Weather Program (Describes wild fire weather terms)

Fire Weather Forecasts from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma

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

Media Contact:
Marilu Trainor, NOAA's National Weather Service Western Region, (801) 524-5692 ext. 226

 

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