Forest Fires in the United States: 8 October 1999
Forest Fires in the United States
8 October 1999
The National Interagency Fire Center reported on 7 October 1999 that there are currently six large fires burning in California, Utah, Oregon and Oklahoma affecting nearly 81,000 ha. In addition, there are three fires being managed to benefit resources in Idaho and California. Firefighters generally made good progress on fires in California, but are preparing for expected winds, warmer temperatures, and lower humidities today and tomorrow. Santa Ana winds (strong, warm winds from the east) are expected to peak tomorrow afternoon, especially in southern California.
Fire Weather Outlook
A red flag warming is posted for southern California today for low humidity and gusty north winds through and below mountain passes and canyons.
The the wake of a storm system passing through the Intermountain West, dry conditions and warmer temperatures are expected throughout the West today. Santa Ana winds gusting to 50 mph and low humidities are forecast for southern California. The Gulf states will have increasing clouds and showers by this afternoon, with dry conditions and partly cloudy skies in the northern portions of the states.
Fig. 1. Large Wildland Fires in the United States, 7 October 1999
(National Interagency Fire Center)
For more information please refer to the website of National Interagency Fire Center.
The BLM – Alaska Fire Service Initial Attack Management System (IAMS) is suite of computer applications developed by BLM/Fire to aid dispatchers and fire managers. IAMS Maps is one of these applications and provides graphical representation of various kinds of geographic data. Maps has been modified to produce output to a Web site to allow internet access to the data that IAMS stores. Dynamic data such as lightning (available May – September), fires, etc. are updated at the homepage of the BLM – Alaska Fire Service (select Maps / AFS IAMS Maps Viewer) every 15 minutes during the fire season.
The IAMS image of active fires in Alaska is shown in a map of 5 October 1999.
According the INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SITUATION REPORT the current situation for 7 October 1999 can be quoted as follows:
“…
CURRENT SITUATION
New large fire activity was reported in the Eastern Great Basin, Southern California and Southern Areas. Containment objectives were reached on fires in the Northwest, Northern California, Southern California, and Southern Areas. Initial attack activity was light. The National Interagency Coordination Center mobilized infrared aircraft, large transport aircraft, a helicopter, engines, heavy equipment, crews, and miscellaneous overhead. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in California, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Georgia, and Illinois.
OUTLOOK:
After passage of a Pacific storm through the Intermountain west, high pressure will build today, resulting in dry conditions and warmer temperatures throughout the west. Santa Ana winds gusting to 50 MPH and a minimum relative humidity of 15 percent are forecast for southern California. Temperatures will range from the 50’s and 60’s along the northwest coast, 70’s and 80’s in the Great Basin, and up to the lower 90’s in the southwest deserts. Western Washington will be cloudy with showers this afternoon as a Pacific storm moves into the area.
The Gulf states will have increasing clouds and showers by afternoon. Dry conditions with partly cloudy skies will prevail in the northern portions of the Gulf states. High temperatures will be in the 80’s and 90’s, with little change in relative humidity.
… .”
Following basic fire data describe the fire situation in the United States:
Number of FIRES in the last 24 hours HECTARES burning in the last 24 hours FIRES
YEAR-TO-DATE HECTARES
YEAR-TO-DATE 114 680 77,786 2,057,344
For detailed information regarding specified regions, please refer to the whole report.
