Forest Fires in the United States: 18 October 1999
Forest Fires in the United States
18 October 1999
The National Interagency Fire Center reported on 15 October 1999 that fire activity picked up in several western states yesterday bringing the total number of large wildland fires to 10 in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Several of these fires in Utah, Wyoming and Montana are in high-elevation areas where snow is expected during the weekend, which should aid in suppression efforts.
Warning to Hunters and Other Outdoor Enthusiasts!
Fire conditions in many areas remain extreme! Be aware of fire restrictions and conditions as you venture into the wildlands this season.
Fire Weather Outlook
The cold front that moved across the Pacific Northwest has brought cooler temperatures over the entire region. Mostly sunny skies will prevail, with a few scattered rain and snow showers over the mountains of Montana, northern and eastern Idaho and western Wyoming.
Strong winds, warm temperatures and low humidities are expected during the weekend throughout California.
Fig. 1. Large Wildland Fires in the United States, 15 October 1999
(National Interagency Fire Center)
For more information please refer to the website of National Interagency Fire Center.
Several active fire signals are recorded by OSEI with the NOAA-12 POES AVHRR HRPT satellite on 15 October 1999 in California.
Fig. 2. The image shows hot spots and smoke plumes from areas of fire burning in northern California.
(Source: NOAA http://www.osei.noaa.gov/)
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 latest 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 17 October 1999 can be quoted as follows:
“…
CURRENT SITUATION
Moderate initial attack activity was reported in California. Minimal initial attack activity occurred elsewhere. New large fire activity occurred in the Northern California and Southwest Areas. Large fire containment objectives were met in the Eastern Great Basin and Southwest Areas. The National Interagency Coordination Center mobilized helicopters, infrared aircraft, a caterer, a shower, engines, crews, and miscellaneous overhead. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Oregon, California, Idaho, and Utah.
OUTLOOK:
A red flag warning is posted for:
-
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FOR STRONG, GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WITH POOR OVERNIGHT RECOVERY
-
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FOR SANTA ANA WIND CONDITIONS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES
-
EAST WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY ON RIDGES IN SOUTHWEST OREGON
High pressure continues to dominate the weather throughout the Pacific Northwest southward through southern California and Arizona. High pressure
over the southwest enhances the Santa Ana wind conditions and brings snow to eastern New Mexico with isolated snow showers and brisk winds over
the Wyoming mountains. There will be gusty west winds in northern Montana along the front range of the Rockies. High temperatures will be in the 70’s
and 80’s along the California coast, and 80’s to mid 90’s over the interior deserts and valleys of southern California, southern Nevada, and Arizona.
Mountain highs will range from the 30’s and 40’s over the northern Intermountain Region, with 50’s and 60’s elsewhere in the region.
… .”
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 35 10,823 79,257 2,060,402
For detailed information regarding specified regions, please refer to the whole report.
