PROVIDING MORE USEFUL FIRE WEATHER INFORMATION TO OUR CUSTOMERS

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PROVIDING MORE USEFUL FIRE WEATHER INFORMATION TO
OUR CUSTOMERS
Mary-Beth Schreck NWS Wichita, KS
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Current Information

• Data we ingest
• Greenness (satellite derived)
• Fuels status
• Data we disseminate
• Rangeland Fire Danger Index (RFD)
• Hazardous Weather Outlook (HWO)
• Fire Weather Forecast (FWF)
• Fire Weather Watch/Red Flag Warning (RFW)

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Goals/Objectives

• Better represent reality temporally and
  spatially
• RFD
• County by county critical fuels
• Uses binned, discontinuous function (empirically)
• GFDI
• Express fire danger continuously in GFE
  temporally and spatially
• Feed info. directly into HWO
• Become a surrogate for the RFD?
• Have as an option for RFW criteria?

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Benefits

• Avoid Greenness Issues
• Point and Click resolution (no discontinuities
  at county borders)
• Hourly indices available for more than 1st or
  2nd period (3 days worth?)
• Same output (low to extreme) for fire danger
• Minimal training required

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Grassland Fire Danger Index - GFDI

• FDI integrates effect on difficulty of
• suppression of fire due to
• Temperature (T ºC)
• Relative Humidity (RH )
• Wind Speed (V km/h) (10 m, 10 min average)
• Curing (C )

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GFDI Output

• The Descriptive Fire Danger Rating system for
  Public Information is
• Low FDI of 0-2
• Moderate FDI of 3-7
• High FDI of 8-20
• Very High FDI of 20-49
• Extreme FDI of 50

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Australian Formula

• Simple mathematically
• 4 main parameters T, wind, RH, curing
• Not a discontinuous/binned function
• Relies on a curing term
• Does not rely on snow/rain/clouds
• We will need to obtain this data
• Outreach
• Fire departments
• Emergency Managers
• Farmers?
• Customers such as Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
• Input can be entered into a web form and imported
  into GFE automatically

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How do we attract observers?

• 6 locations minimum per CWA
• Who
• KNOWN reliable observers/enthusiastic customers
• NWS Employee
• Coop Observers
• Fire Departments
• Emergency Managers
• Farmers
• Spotters
• Training via curing guide (being developed)
• Data into GFE via web form?
• Outreach opportunities
• Local/county fire department meetings
• KEMA/NEMA meetings
• Other customers

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Curing Guide
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Curing Guide
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Potential Output

• GFE Graphics
• HWO
• RFD?
• A more representative value for the RFD product
• A change that is transparent to the customer
• Text by county? (If deemed useful based on demand)

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GFE Output (70 Curing)
In Central KS Winds 30G40KT 70 curing RH
40 Temp. 68-70 degrees F Yields High criteria
In Southeast KS Winds 17 kts 70 curing RH
50 Temp 73-74 degrees F Yields Moderate criteria
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GFE Output (85 Curing)
In Central KS Winds 30G40KT 85 curing RH
40 Temp. 68-70 degrees F Yields Very High
criteria
In Southeast KS Winds 17 kts 85 curing RH
50 Temp 73-74 degrees F Yields High criteria
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GFE Output (100 Curing)

• In Central KS
• Winds 30G40KT
• 100 curing
• RH 40
• Temp. 68-70 degrees F
• Yields Extreme criteria

• In Southeast KS
• Winds 17 kts
• 100 curing
• RH 50
• Temp 73-74 degrees F
• Yields High criteria