NOAA/National Weather Service's Chief Learning Office United States Department of Commerce
Commerce Learning Center
Fire Weather

PCU 4: Provide Fire Weather Products and Services


Understand the needs of our fire weather partners to ensure we produce timely, high quality, relevant, and clearly defined products and services using pertinent meteorological data, and fire weather forecast tools and techniques.

Job Task Skills and Knowledge:

  • Demonstrate the ability to add value to gridded forecast datasets.
  • Utilize clear and pertinent language in text based products to effectively convey hazards and/or other weather of interest
  • Convey confidence and trends within text based products that is applicable to fire weather concerns
  • Utilize knowledge of terrain influences and local weather effects to provide sub grid level detail in spot forecasts
  • Provide phone and internet briefings to fire customers
  • Lead and contribute to coordination calls with other WFOs, IMETs and GACC Meteorologists.
  • Proactively communicate fire weather threats to customers
  • Interact with partners to obtain supplemental data that aids in writing effective site specific forecasts and supports projects and incidents


Instructional Components:

  • S290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior Course (12)
  • Stability, Smoke Management and Fire Weather Forecasting(COMET - Advanced Fire Weather Forecasters Course)
  • Fire Weather Grid Techniques: Relative Humidity and Dewpoint Temperature (COMET - Advanced Fire Weather Forecasters Course)
  • Participate in a simulated conference call lead by a Predictive Service Meteorologist and discuss weather concerns. (exercise)
  • Initiate a simulated call to another WFO to discuss you fire weather concerns
  • Given a series of soundings, estimate the mixing height, transport winds and Haines Index (exercise)
  • Provide a phone briefing on a developing critical weather situation to an IMET who has been deployed to the CWA from out of the area (exercise)
  • Conduct a 90 second briefing using 3 prepared powerpoint slides on a developing critical fire weather situation to a group of non meteorologists. (exercise)
  • Annual NFDRS Refresher
  • Fire Weather Products/Directive 10-401
  • Advanced Forecasting: Derived Elements (Haines/Mixing Heights and Transport Winds/Clearing Index/GFDI )including how these elements impact customers.
  • Advanced Fire Weather Services (briefings/IMET) (portions of clear communications)
  • How Fire Weather Forecasts Impact Partners (Situational Awareness instructor lead exercise)

Legend for Instructional Components:
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