An evaluation of fire danger and behaviour indices in the Great Lakes Region calculated from station and gridded weather information

Abstract

A web-based set of tools has been developed to integrate weather, fire danger and fire behaviour information for the Great Lakes region of the United States. Weather parameters obtained from selected observational networks are combined with operational high-resolution gridded analyses and forecast products from the United States National Weather Service. Fuel moisture codes and fire behaviour indices in the Fire Weather Index subsystem of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System are computed from these sources for current and forecast conditions. Applications of this Great Lakes Fire and Fuels System are demonstrated for the 2012 fire season. Fuel moisture codes and fire behaviour indices computed from gridded analyses differ from those derived from observations in a manner similar to the analysis errors typical for the underlying weather parameters. Indices that are particularly sensitive to seasonally accumulating precipitation, such as the Drought Code, exhibit the largest differences. The gridded analyses and forecasts provide considerable additional information for fire weather professionals to evaluate weather and fuel state in the region. The potential utility of these gridded analyses and forecasts throughout the continental United States is highlighted.