National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Success Story
Daily Fire Weather Forecasts Go Digital
Alaska Region, Alaska
Cohesive Strategy - Response to Wildfire
2011
Weather forecasters sometimes like to remind people jokingly that, “We’re in sales, not production!” Truthfully, part of being a stellar fire weather forecaster does require selling your product. That means getting the forecast to fire personnel who need to know critical weather changes, in a timely, logical, concise, and complete format.
Beginning in the spring of 2011, National Park Service (NPS) forecasters at the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center began issuing a daily podcast; approximately a ten minute recorded audio and video program that provides fire weather information for all of Alaska.
The forecast focuses on the first three days, followed by a long-range outlook. Temperature, relative humidity, winds, and lightning are the main focus, as well as movement of weather patterns affecting the state.
For many years, a similar forecast had been delivered as a once daily in-person or dial-in briefing with online images available. However, fire personnel now stagger their workdays, causing many to miss the forecast discussion. NPS forecasters developed the podcast so that all interested parties can hear and see the most up-to-date weather information, on their own schedule.
Forecasters use video and voice recognition software to develop the ten-minute podcast, complete with closed captioning. Although this adds to the daily weather workload, it is well worth the effort. Many fire management officials and front line firefighters reported using this tool to anticipate weather changes and its effects on fire behavior.
In the future, the programmers plan to install a web counter to determine how many hits the podcast gets on different days.
Podcasts are discontinued in the off-season, but follow this link next summer to check out the latest Alaska Fire Weather Podcast.
Contact
Heidi Strader and Sharon Alden, Fire Weather Program Managers
Email: heidi_strader@ak.blm.gov, sharon_alden@ak.blm.gov
Phone: (907) 356-5691