Forest Fires in the United States: 11 November 1999
Forest Fires in the United States
11 November 1999
Fire officials closed the 1999 Northern California fire season on Tuesday, 9 November 1999. It was a hard fire season, that left nearly 305,000 ha charred. More than 200,000 ha of national forest land burned, which is more than six times the 32,000 ha that burn in an average year, making 1999 the second-worst year in Forest Service history. An article with the title Northern California Fire Season Ends published by The New York Times/The Associated Press [AP] on 9 November 1999 gives more detailed information about the Northern California fire season.
The Wildland Fire Update from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) will be updated from now on every Friday unless significant activity occurs. The latest overview fire map from the 5 November 1999 shows large wildland fires in the United States. For more information please refer to the website of NIFC.
The Wildland Fire Assessment System, provided by “The Fire Behavior Research Work Unit”, Missoula (Montana USA), produces following fire danger map.
Fig. 1. Fire Danger Forecast Map, 11 November 1999
(Source: Fire Behavior Research Work Unit, Missoula)
Several active fire signals are recorded by OSEI with the NOAA-14 POES AVHRR HRPT satellite on 10 November 1999 in Colorado and Kansas.
Fig. 2. The image shows heat signatures and smoke plumes from areas of fire, some of which may be controlled, burning in Colorado and Kansas.
(Source: NOAA http://www.osei.noaa.gov/)
According the INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SITUATION REPORT the situation for 10 November 1999 can be quoted as follows:
“…
CURRENT SITUATION
There was moderate initial attack activity in the Eastern and Southern Areas. Containment objectives were met on the large fires in the Northwest, Great Basin and Eastern Areas. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Virginia, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and Idaho.
OUTLOOK:
A red flag warning is issued for SOUTHERN MISSOURI and SOUTHERN ILLINOIS for gusty winds and low relative humidities.
Partly cloudy and warm in Illinois and Indiana. High temperatures will be in the 60’s in the north and the mid 70’s in the south. Winds are forecasted to be westerly 15 to 25 MPH. Relative humidities will be from 25 to 35 percent. Ohio will be mostly cloudy with a chance of rain showers. Highs will be in the 70’s and winds are expected to be west to southwest 15 to 25 MPH.
Kentucky will be mostly sunny with high temperatures in the 70’s and the winds will be southwest from 10 to 20 MPH.
South Dakota will be mostly sunny with high temperatures of 50 degrees in the east and in the low 70’s in the west. Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming will be mostly sunny with highs in the 50’s in the mountains and 60’s on the plains. Southern Colorado and eastern Utah could see high temperatures in the mid 70’s. Southern Idaho will be mostly cloudy with a chance of mountain rain or snow showers. High temperatures will be in the 50’s in the mountains and lower 60’s in the valleys.
California will be mostly cloudy in the north with rain likely on the northern coast. High temperatures will be in the 50’s in the mountains and lower 70’s in the valleys and coastal areas. Southern California will be mostly sunny with locally breezy conditions in the mountain passes and deserts in the afternoon. High temperatures will be from the 60’s in the mountains to lower 80’s in the valleys and deserts.
… .”
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 109 369 85,529 2,205,444
For detailed information regarding specified regions, please refer to the whole report.
