SUN, HOT TEMPERATURES COMING BACK TO WILDFIRE AREAS

August 28, 2001 — High pressure dominated the weather patterns over the Western United States last weekend and at the start of this week. Many fires throughout the region grew Monday as afternoon heat and winds fanned many fires. The weather forecast from NOAA's National Weather Service indicates conditions will continue to be sunny and hot with typical afternoon winds caused by heating of the atmosphere. (Click NOAA image for larger view. Jim Prange [right], National Weather Service Incident Meteorologist, conducts his fire weather forecast briefing on Monday at the Icicle Complex fire near Leavenworth, Wash. Click here for larger, 300 dpi image. Please note this is a large file.)

"The air mass has been exceptionally dry for several days with relative humidities running in the low teens or single digits over a large expanse of the West. These conditions, coupled with the wind, have meteorologists across the region collaborating with land management agency officials on how to develop tactics for the fires during these critical times,"said Carl Gorski, deputy chief of the Meteorological Services Division of the NWS Western Region Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. "We're also aware that the long holiday weekend is coming up and the land managers are going to need as much advance notice of changing weather conditions as possible."

Rich Douglas, the NWS Western Region's MSD chief, said, "Our weather forecasters in offices across the region as well as the 15 NWS' Incident Meteorologists who are currently deployed to the fires are approaching these very hot, dry and unstable conditions across the region with due diligence. We know the weather caused many ongoing fires to show significant growth late Sunday evening and into Monday. Tuesday doesn't look much better in many areas, especially Montana where gusty winds and dry thunderstorms are expected in the southern part of the state."

The National Interagency Fire Center reported Tuesday there are 26 active major fires burning in the West. Five fires are located in Washington state, three each in California, Idaho and Wyoming, two in Nevada and one in Utah. Of this total, eight new fires were classified as major fires. NIFC also said more than 20,700 firefighters and support personnel are assigned to wildland fires.

A 23,500 acre wildfire between Livingston and Yellowstone National Park is one of the largest currently going on in the West. More than 900 firefighters are battling the blaze in this Montana area. In the northwestern part of the state, another blaze has consumed 4,200 acres just west of Glacier National Park.

Current and Forecasted Weather Situation from the National Weather Service
"Minor upper air disturbances moving over the top of the high pressure ridge kicked off a few dry thunderstorms over the Idaho central mountains late Sunday night. Due to the extremely dry air mass, ignition probabilities for fire starts by lightning are quite high in the coming days," said Gorski.

National Weather Service Meteorologists Still Deployed to Wildland Fires
NWS forecasters who are deployed from their home offices continue to work side-by-side with officials from many land management agencies as the IMETs provide critical weather information to fire behavior analysts and others to plan strategies to combat the wildfires. Currently fourteen specially trained weather forecasters, called Incident Meteorologists, are assigned to fires throughout the region.

The Icicle Complex fire, near Leavenworth, Wash., received much needed rain last week which helped firefighters contain the blaze during the past few days. This fire is six miles southwest of Leavenworth. Minimal fire activity was observed the past few days and mop up operations continue

Firefighting crews are heeding the warning of NOAA's National Weather Service to prepare for higher temperatures and lower humidity that could bring increased fire activity.

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.

NOAA's Western U.S. Wildfires Summary — Includes maps

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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