SOUTH BOISE, Idaho — Seventy meteorologists are undergoing intense training to forecast fire weather and behavior to combat wildfires.
- Led by NOAA, they're learning how to track weather that affects wildfires.
- Incident Meteorologists complete specialized training to support firefighting efforts across the nation.
- More information about how to prevent wildfires in your area.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
When wildfires spark, every second matters, and devising a plan to attack the flames falls largely on fire weather forecasts. That's why seventy meteorologists are undergoing intensive training right here in Boise. Their mission? To deliver accurate fire weather forecasts, provide critical fire behavior guidance, and conduct briefings for firefighters on the front lines.
Fire behavior analyst Stewart Turner emphasizes the key elements of understanding fire behavior. "Fire behavior is dependent on three things: the topography of the ground, the fuels (what's burning - the leaves, the pine needles, the trees), and then most importantly, the weather," says Turner.
That's where meteorologists step in to predict and understand these infernos before they even begin. "The weather is a big driver of that fire behavior," says Turner.
The training consists of three main focuses: finetuning the critical skill of interpreting data from weather balloons, communicating that information to crews on the ground, and understanding the automated technology involved at each wildfire command center.
"Basically, what you have here is a portable weather station that we put up in the forest or anywhere near a wildfire. We have wind speed and humidity/temperature, two critical elements of the forecast," says Bird.
And the primary goal when meteorologists work with firefighters? "We integrate into that team, become part of the team, and provide a service that is so relied upon that when we walk away from that fire, we provided exactly what they needed to be successful," says Bird.
