News and opinion about wildland fire
The Smokey Bear Twitter account sent this message today:
I turn 70 in August so I decided to retire. Meet the new face of #wildfire prevention. #SmokeyMantis pic.twitter.com/DNCcGzv5Lf
— Smokey Bear (@smokey_bear) April 1, 2014
Uhmmmm… check the date.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Wildfire potential, April – July, 2014 The Predictive Services section at the National Interagency Fire Center has issued their Wildland Fire Potential Outlook for April through July, 2014. The data represents the cumulative forecasts of the eleven Geographic Area Predictive Services Units and the National Predictive Services Unit. If their prediction is correct there will be increasing wildfire potential during the period in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon.
April – Above normal significant fire potential will continue over portions of southern California; the central Plains from southeastern Colorado to Iowa and northern Missouri; and southwestern and south central Alaska. – Below normal significant fire potential will develop over most of the Ohio, Tennessee, and lower Mississippi Valleys, the central Gulf Coast; eastern Texas and eastern Oklahoma. The Canadian border region from northern Minnesota to Maine will also have below normal fire potential.
May – Above normal significant fire potential will expand over portions of southern, central and northern California; and over most of western Alaska. – Above normal fire potential will increase in the Southwest and decrease over the central Plains. – Below normal fire potential will continue over the lower and mid-Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio Valleys.
June through July – Above normal significant fire potential will expand over most of northern California, central Oregon and northwestern Nevada; over the far southern Gre
Yesterday the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center released their monthly drought outlook for April 30, 2014:
The latest Drought Monitor, released March 27, is below:
The Government Accountability Office announced today that they sustained the protest filed by three companies over the sole source air tanker contract that the U.S. Forest Service awarded to Neptune Aviation December 12, 2013. The non-competitive contract, worth about $141 million, specified that Neptune would supply two or more next-generation air tankers, BAe-146s, for the next four to nine years beginning in 2014.
More details are at Fire Aviation.
Many states observe Wildfire Awareness Week, with goals of raising the public awareness of wildfires and promoting actions that reduce the risk from wildfire to homes and communities.
(UPDATE May 3, 2014: News3 reports, “A multi-state proclamation, signed by the Governors of Nevada, California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington, recognizes May 2014 as Wildfire Awareness Month and encourages all citizens to “learn to live safely in a wildfire environment.”)
The seven states and four Canadian provinces in the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission’s Compact will observe Wildfire Awareness Week April 20-26, 2014. This will include the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland Labrador.
If you have updated information about exactly when states will observe Wildfire Awareness Week this year, or standard time periods each year, let us know.
The International Association of Wildland Fire has proclaimed the weeks of May 1–7 (northern hemisphere) and October 1–7 (southern hemisphere) to be “Global Wildfire Awareness Week”. The NPFA will observe May 3, 2014 as the first “National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day”.
Handout materials
Warnings for elevated wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, and Alabama.
The Red Flag Warning map was current as of 9:17 a.m. MDT on Monday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts. For the most current data, visit this NWS site.
