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HIGH TEMPERATURES, DRY CONDITIONS MAKE FIRE SEASON 2000
THE WORST IN 50 YEARS
August 8, 2000 A ridge of high
pressure, parked stubbornly over 11 Western states, is giving
NOAA's National Weather Service
forecastersand weary firefighterslittle hope
that the dry, hot conditions, and parade of dry lightning storms
will end soon. So far, these conditions have created a tinderbox-like
environment, resulting in nearly 64,000 wildland fires, which
have torched more than 4 million acres this year. The latest
six-10 day forecast calls for continued high temperatures, low
relative humidity and little, or no precipitation. (Click
image for larger view.)
[NOAA photo coutesy of Scott Birch, NWS Western Region Headquarters.
Photo Caption: NOAA Incident Meteorologist Chris Gibson from
the NWS Forecast Office in Salt Lake City, Utah, was assigned
to the Clear Creek fire complex located near Salmon, Idaho. Gibson
is one of 40 IMETs who are trained in providing site-specific
fire weather information to land management agencies. 07/24/00]
The total suppression costs
submitted so far for only half of the ongoing wildland fires
is running more than $50 million and wildland management agencies
fear the current fire season could be the worst in 50 years.
If the current activity continues, suppression costs could approach
or exceed $1 billion for the year.
As of August 8, the National Weather
Service had 21 Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) on site or en-route
to assist other federal agencies with an increasing number of
wild fires. NOAA's National Weather Service has assigned these
special weather forecasters to work with land management agencies
and firefighters to battle against blazes in several states.
So far this year, the National Weather Service has dispatched
IMETS to work the equivalent of 550 days on wildfires. (Click
image for larger view.) [NOAA satellite image of wildfires on
Aug. 8, 2000.]
THE EXTREME WEATHER AND
NEW FIRES
Firefighters and resources
throughout the West are being stressed, according to the National Interagency Fire Center
in Boise, Idaho. Fire weather watches have been posted throughout
the Northwest and Great Basin areas. Eight new large fires were
reported in the Northern Rockies, Rocky Mountains, Eastern Great
Basin, Southern California and Southern areas since Sunday.
Sixty-six wildfires in 11 states
are classified as large wildfires and involve 866,012 acres as
of August 8. (Click
here for the Wildland Fire Update.)
Large Wildland Fires
Total Fires: 66
Total Acres: 866,012
As of August 8, nearly 64,000
fires have burned more than 4 million acres this year. This compares
to the 10-year averages of 84,657 wildland fires and 2,236,951
acres annually. (Click
here for latest geographic map.)
Number of wildland
fires and acres affected in 2000 by geographic
area
Updated (08/08/00 )
10-Year Average
84,657 = number of wildfires
2,236,951 = number of acres)
NOAA METEOROLOGISTS ARE
KEY TO FIREFIGHTERS SAFETY
Fire fighters know that adverse weather
is one of the most dangerous hazards their crews face. That's
why NOAA National Weather Service meteorologists are seen as
a vital partner in keeping firefighters safe as the crews attempt
to contain or suppress wildfires that rage across the United
States each year. (Click image for larger view.)
[NOAA photo coutesy of Scott Birch, NWS Western Region Headquarters.
Photo Caption: NWS Western Region Fire Weather Program Manager
Scott Birch prepares to launch a small weather balloon at a site
adjacent to the Burgdorf Junction Fire near McCall, Idaho. The
balloon will measure winds up to 10,000 to 15,000 feet.]
The meteorologists are having
a busy season issuing forecasts from their offices, providing
briefings in interagency coordination centers, and site-specific
forecasts at several of the fires.
Most offices in the NWS'
Western region (Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,
Oregon, Utah and Washington) are directly or indirectly involved
in fire support along with others in Colorado, Wyoming and New
Mexico. The meteorologists issue site-specific, timely forecasts
of weather conditions.
The forecast offices are able
to provide assistance to the agency's special cadre of
Incident Meteorologists, called IMETs, who are deployed to a
specific fire's location. At the fire scene, IMETs give frequent
briefings to the fire management team which relies on the information
to know where to place firefighting crews and for tactical decisions
how to fight the fire.
The IMETs are specially trained
in mesoscale and microscale meteorology and employ a variety
of special tools to prepare the forecasts that contribute to
the safety of all personnel involved in management of the fires.
Since 1914, National Weather
Service forecasters have worked closely with fire control specialists
from a variety of federal agencies tasked with suppressing fires.
The IMETs use laptop computers to access information from local
forecast offices and use other special equipment in preparing
critical information for wildfire suppression. The main tool
used by IMETs is the 250-pound Advanced Technology Meteorological
Unit (ATMU), which enables forecasters to operate at the fire
command centers and provide close meteorological support to suppression
efforts.
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.
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:
Patrick Slattery,
NOAA's National Weather Service
Central Region, (816) 426-7621, ext. 621 or Marilu
Trainor, NWS Western Region,
(801) 524-5692 ext. 226.
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