Fifth Symposium on Forest
and Fire Meteorology AMS Conference Presentation |
11/18/2003 Orlando, Florida |
Recently, forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center, in Norman, OK, have begun using short range ensemble forecast (SREF) output as guidance for their national fire
weather outlooks. The SPC forecasters outlook critical and extremely critical fire weather areas, for a 24-48 hour time period. These areas are evaluated by inspecting
grids of maximum temperature, minimum RH values, sustained surface winds, in addition to antecedent drought conditions. Dry lightning is also forecasted and is
considered to be a critical/extremely critical fire weather outlook area.
The use of SREF output enhances the forecast process by highlighting the likelihood of key fire weather parameters reaching critical values. Forecasters use GEMPAK
scripts which allow them to display data from the NCEP 15 member (SREF). The NCEP SREF contains output from the Eta, the Eta with the Kain-Fritsch (KF) convective
parameterization, and the regional spectral model (RSM). There is a control run for each model, in addition to four initial conditions. In this way, statistical
characteristics of model solutions can be used in creating the fire weather outlooks. Forecasters can display a variety of statistical fields including probability, median,
mean, max/min, standard deviation, and “spaghetti” charts.
To view the paper, please click here for a PDF version.
To view current SPC fire weather forecasts and composite maps, click:
here.
Powerpoint presentation: view presentation or download presentation.
Email: Sarah Taylor "Corresponding Author"
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