Red Flag Warning and Fire Weather Information

Of all the many contributing factors such as fuels, topography, and regulations that need to be taken into account before conducting a prescribed burn or taking action on a wildfire there is one factor that is completely beyond our control. Weather is the most constantly changing and hardest to predict variable in a fire environment. When weather forecasts and avail- able weather condition information is not given the consideration it deserves, the consequences can lead to increased loss of property and, in the most extreme cases, threaten human life. There are many sources of fire related weather information avail- able in many forms. The weather forecast that comes out each day federal fire management agencies Goodland, Kan. on TV, radio, or in the newspaper, began issuing Red Flag warnings. (785) 899-7119 applies to fire as well as it does to When the conditions are met to indi- www.crh.noaa.gov/gld/?n=/ other activities. For the most part, cate there is a good chance of extreme firewx/index.php fire specific weather information fire behavior, a weather warning Hastings, Neb. is found on the internet. Several called a Red Flag is issued. Red Flag 402-462-4287 helpful Web sites are listed below. warnings need to be taken just as www.crh.noaa.gov/gid/?n=firewx seriously as any other severe weather Topeka, Kan. Kansas Web sites warning and no burning should be (785) 234-259 conducted on a Red Flag day. www.crh.noaa.gov/top/?n=fire Current Watches, Warnings, and Wichita, Kan. Advisories for Kansas: National Weather Service (NWS) (316) 942-8483 www.nws.noaa.gov/alerts/ks.html offices, phone numbers, and fire www.crh.noaa.gov/ict/?n=firewx This site will post Red Flag fire weather pages weather warnings and watches. Dodge City, Kan. These offices provide more Beginning in October of 2006 (620) 225-6514 detailed and localized information the National Weather Service in www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/?n=firewx on current fire weather conditions Cooperation with several state and for a given area.

Kansas Forest Service Rangeland Fire Danger Index Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve National Fire Weather Page www.crh.noaa.gov/product.php?site= raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi- fire.boi.noaa.gov/ TOP&product=RFD&issuedby=TOP bin/roman/meso_base. cgi?stn=TGSK1&time=GMT This National Weather Service The system of fire danger rating Missouri Dept. of Conservation, Web site provides information on that will continue to be available Clinton, MO national conditions and warnings. as one more source of fire weather raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi- information. bin/roman/meso_base. Storm Prediction Center Fire cgi?stn=CITM7&time=GMT Weather Forecast MesoWest www.spc.noaa.gov/products/fire_wx/ www.met.utah.edu/cgi-bin/droman/ RAWS stations are internet linked index.html mesomap.cgi?state=KS&rawsflag=1 weather data gathering stations. There are currently four in the state This National Weather Service This site has links to several and one just into Missouri. You can Web site provides information on weather observation sites to get use the one closest to your location what locations the National Weather current weather observation infor- to find detailed current weather Service expects to experience mation such as temperature and observations, graphs, fuel moisture, extreme fire weather over a given relative humidity. and 24-hour trend. time period.

RAWS (Remote Automated National Web Sites For more information contact Weather Station) Sites the Kansas Forest Service at (785) Cimarron National Grassland US Drought Monitor 532-3300. raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi- www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html bin/roman/meso_base. Links to Web sites were cgi?stn=CGLK1&time=GMT Palmer Drought Index current at press time, for an Quivira National Wildlife Refuge www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/ updated list, see our Web site at raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi- analysis_monitoring/regional_moni- www.kansasforests.org bin/roman/meso_base. toring/palmer.gif cgi?stn=QNRK1&time=GMT Manhattan Airport These two sites provide http://raws.wrh.noaa.gov/ long-term, cumulative drought cgi-bin/roman/meso_base. information that can be useful in cgi?stn=KMHK determining the dryness of fuels in a wildland fire.

Jason Hartman This publication is made Kansas Forest Service available in cooperation 2610 Clafflin Road with the USDA Forest Manhattan, KS 66502 Service. (785) 532-3300 www.kansasforests.org

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