Central Pine
Barrens Fire Weather Page - Updated 11/21/2012
1. Daily National Weather Service Fire Weather Forecast from the Brookhaven (Upton, NY) Forecast Office
2.
Daily
Fire
Danger Ratings for 2012 (See this link for
an
explanation of
the ratings system as used locally):
|
Week |
Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
| 10/28 - 11/3 |
Low | Low | Low | ||||
| 10/21 - 10/27 |
Moderate |
Low | Low | Low | Low | ||
| 10/14 - 10/20 |
Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | |
| 10/7 - 10/13 |
Low |
Low | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Low | |
| 9/30 - 10/6 |
Moderate | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | |
| 9/23 - 9/29 |
Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | |
| 9/16 - 9/22 |
Moderate | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | |
| 9/9 - 9/15 |
Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| 9/2 - 9/8 |
Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | ||
| 8/26 - 9/1 |
Low |
Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| 8/19
- 8/25 |
Low | Low | Low |
Moderate |
Moderate | Low | |
| 8/12
- 8/18 |
Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | |
| 8/5
- 8/11 |
Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | |
| 7/29
- 8/4 |
Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | ||
| 7/22
- 7/28 |
Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| 7/15
-
7/21 |
Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| 7/8
-
7/14 |
Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | ||
| 7/1
-
7/7 |
Moderate | Moderate | Low |
Moderate | Low |
||
| 6/24
-
6/30 |
Low | Low | Moderate |
Moderate |
Moderate | ||
| 6/17
-
6/23 |
Moderate | Low |
Moderate |
Moderate |
Moderate | Low |
|
| 6/10
-
6/16 |
Low |
Low |
Low | Low | Low | ||
| 6/3 - 6/9 |
Low | Low | Low | Low | Moderate |
||
| 5/27
-
6/2 |
Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | ||
| 5/20
-
5/26 |
Low |
Low |
Low |
Low | Low | ||
| 5/13
-
5/19 |
Low |
Low |
Low |
Low |
Low |
||
| 5/6
-
5/12 |
Low |
Low |
Low |
Low |
Low |
||
| 4/29
-
5/5 |
High |
Low |
Low |
Low |
Low |
||
| 4/22
-
4/28 |
|
Low |
Low | Low | Low | Moderate |
|
| 4/15
-
4/21 |
Very High | Very
High |
Very
High |
Very High | Very High | Very
High |
Very
High |
|
4/8 - 4/14 |
High |
High |
Very High |
Moderate |
Moderate |
High |
Very High |
|
4/1 -
4/7
|
Moderate |
High* |
High* |
High |
High |
High |
|
|
3/25 -
3/31
|
Moderate |
High* |
Moderate |
Moderate | Moderate |
Low |
|
| 3/18 - 3/24 | Low |
Low |
Low | Low | Low |
Moderate |
|
|
3/11 - 3/17 |
|
Low |
Low |
Moderate |
Low |
Low |
|
|
Past years |
|||||||
|
(*) indicates National
Weather Service Red Flag Warning day. |
|||||||
3. About the Central Pine Barrens Fire Weather Program
The
Fire Weather Committee, chaired by Mr. John
Urevich of the Southampton Town Fire Chiefs' Council,
implements the
Central
Pine Barrens Fire Management Plan's sections on fire weather
monitoring
and
public notification of fire danger conditions. This is
done in
concert
with the Public Education Committee. See Section
3.4
of
the
Fire
Management
Plan,
"Annual
Fire
Weather", and Section
4.2,
"Public
Notification
of
Fire
Danger". Goals of the program are:
1. Establish, operate, and maintain a fire weather station within the Central Pine Barrens to complement the existing US Fish and Wildlife Service station. Additional stations may be considered as experience dictates. The two stations currently in operation are both from Forest Technology Systems, Ltd. (Victoria, BC). They are:
- US Fish and
Wildlife station at the Wertheim National Wildlife
Refuge, part of the Long Island
National Wildlife
Refuge Complex, in Brookhaven hamlet. This
station
is
close
to
the
western
bank
of
the
lower
Carmans
River,
a
short
distance
north
of
Bellport
Bay.
This station is part of the
national Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite
(GOES) network.
- Central Pine
Barrens station in the Manorville - Eastport area. This station is located well inland within
the Central
Pine Barrens, and along the Ronkonkoma moraine. This
station is
also part of the GOES network.
Eastport Weather Station
2.
Follow
and
implement
the
National
Fire
Danger
Ratings
System (NFDRS) for the Central Pine Barrens and
surrounding
area.
3.
Provide
daily
fire
weather
information
to,
and
establish
and
maintain
a
close
working
relationship
with,
the
Suffolk
County
Department
of
Fire,
Rescue
and
Emergency
Services (SC FRES; Yaphank, NY).
Specifically,
this
permits
SC
FRES
to
broadcast
daily
fire
danger
levels
within
Suffolk
County.
This
is
generally
done
shortly
after
1300
hours
(during
Eastern Standard Time) or 1400 hours (during
Daylight
Savings Time). The five qualitative danger levels - also known
as
"adjective levels" or "staffing levels" under the federal
NFDRS system, represent the expected behavior of a fire
once it
occurs on a
particular day. These ratings do not indicate the
likelihood of
an
ignition occurring. Specifically, these Fire
Danger Levels,
which
are
customized
to
local
conditions,
indicate
different
value
ranges
for
fire
spread
rates,
flame
heights,
and
other
characteristics
of
a
potential
fire. The five levels and their color coding are defined
under
NFDRS as:
|
Low |
Moderate |
High |
Very High |
Extreme |
See this two page pdf
fact
sheet for an explanation of the ratings' fire behavior
meanings and
their
application to public lands management in Suffolk County !
The
rating
is also posted on this web site (main page and
this page), and is faxed and / or e-mailed to government
offices
requesting it.
4.
Establish
and
maintain
a
close
working
relationship
with
the
National Weather
Service's
(NWS) Brookhaven (Upton, NY) Forecast Office. See the Brookhaven
Forecast
Office's
Fire Weather Page for detailed meteorological data,
forecasts and
numerous fire weather products for both the Long Island area
and the
Forecast
Office's larger interstate responsibility area. Also see
the Daily
National
Weather
Service Fire Weather Forecast from the Brookhaven (Upton,
NY) Forecast
Office.
5.
Assist
the broader Suffolk County Fire Community -
departments, districts, marshals, investigators, and others
- to
further their
missions through providing a uniform fire weather rating,
and clearly
explaining its benefits and limitations. See
this two page pdf
fact
sheet for an explanation
of the ratings' fire behavior meanings and their application
to public
lands
management in Suffolk County.
6.
Assist
the
Wildfire
Task
Force
organizations
with
the
development,
refinement
and
implementation
of
a
Standard
Operating
Procedure
(SOP)
for
the
implementation
and relaxation of activity and
access
restrictions for public forest lands during fire critical
times. An interagency SOP
was
established during the 1999 fire season, and will be refined
as
experience with
it is gained.
7.
Maintain,
and
provide
access
to,
historical
fire
weather
data
to
interested
researchers,
students
and
other
individuals.
4.
Fire
Safety and Fire Related Links:
- Central
Pine Barrens
Wildfire Task Force
(Our local team
addressing Long Island's wildland fire issues.
Includes roster of
Task Force organizations, links to their web sites,
etc. These
include Federal, State, Local, Fire Dept. and Private
members.)
- American Red
Cross (Washington,
DC)
- California
Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (Sacramento, CA)
- Colorado
Wildfire
Academy (Alamosa, CO)
(Our cooperating colleagues' Western training Academy.)
- Environmental
Protection
Agency - Wildland Fire Issues Group (Provides
recommendations
regarding
prescribed
fire
impacts.)
- Federal Emergency
Management Agency
(FEMA) (Washington, DC)
- FEMA - U.S.
Fire Administration
(Emmitsburg, MD)
- Firewise (Cosponsored
by
federal
agencies
and
private
organizations.
Excellent
wildfire
overview
and
introduction.)
- Florida
Department
of
Agriculture
and
Consumer
Services
-
Division
of
Forestry
- Wildland
Fire
and Fire
Weather (Tallahassee, FL) (Wildfire,
prescribed
fire, fire ecology, and kid's pages are featured here.)
- Global
Fire
Monitoring Center (Freiburg, Germany) (Cosponsored
by
numerous
international,
scientific
and
government
organizations.
Provides
extensive
current
and
archived
information,
charts,
photos,
technical
references,
etc.)
- Healthy
Forests and
Rangelands (Provides fire,
fuels, and land
management information to government officials, land and
fire
management professionals, businesses, communities, and
other interested
organizations and individuals. Replaces the National
Fire Plan and
Healthy Forests websites)
- Institute for
Business & Home
Safety (Boston, MA) - Wildfire
(Insurance industry institute promoting safety and
prevention.)
- International
Code Council (ICC)
(Washington, DC)
(International
organization promoting better informed codes, guidelines
and
regulations for building, land use, and safety.)
- ICC
- Wildfire Safety:
Protect Your Home and Community
- National Fire
Protection Association
(Quincy, MA)
(International,
nonprofit organization promoting fire safety through
fire codes and
standards, research, training, and education.)
- National
Interagency Fire Center
(Boise, ID) (Federal
agency
which coordinates nationwide wildland firefighting
efforts.)
- National
Interagency Fire Center -
Joint Fire Science Program
(Joint
program
of
the
USDI
and
the
USDA
Forest
Service
which
develops
information
and
tools
for
managers
and
specialists
who
deal with
wildland fuels issues.)
- National
Interagency Prescribed
Fire Training Center (Tallahassee, FL)
(Federal
instructional
school.)
- National Wildfire
Coordinating Group
(Federal policy entity providing training standards,
course certifications, etc.)
- New
Jersey
Dept.
of
Environmental
Protection
-
NJ
Forest
Fire
Service
(Trenton,
NJ) (Provides
latest
fire conditions and information for New Jersey,
including the NJ
Pinelands.)
- New
York Wildfire and
Incident Management Academy (Stony Brook, NY) (Our own interagency training academy
here on Long
Island.)
- Tall
Timbers Research Station
(Tallahassee, FL)
(Ecological
research station which conducts fire ecology research.)
- U.S.
Dept. of Agriculture -
Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Research Station - Fire
Sciences
Laboratory (Missoula, MT) - Fire Effects
Information System (FEIS)
(Summarizes the distribution, use, value, fire ecology,
and
fire effects of 1100+ North American plants, animals,
and community
types.)
- U.S. Dept.
of Agriculture - Forest
Service - Smokey Bear (The
official Smokey
web site.)
- U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture - Forest Service
- Wildland Fire Assessment System
(Daily updates of fire weather data, forecasts, maps,
etc.)
- U.S.
Dept. of
Commerce - NOAA - National Weather Service - Brookhaven,
NY Forecast
Office - Fire Weather Page
- U.S. Dept. of
Commerce - NOAA -
National Weather Service - Boise, ID Forecast Office -
National Fire
Weather Page
(Extensive fire weather
forecast site.)
- U.S.
Dept.
of Commerce - NOAA - National Weather Service - Seattle,
WA Forecast
Office - National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) (An introduction to the art and
science of fire
danger rating.)
- U.S.
Dept. of Commerce - NOAA -
National Weather Service - Real Time Observation
Monitoring and
Analysis Network (ROMAN)
(joint US DOI
and NOAA NWS program)
- U.S.
Dept. of
Interior - Bureau of Land Management - National Office
of Fire and
Aviation
- University
of Nebraska at
Lincoln - National Drought Mitigation Center
(Introduction to drought science and indices, etc.)
- University
of Utah
(Salt Lake City, UT) - Meteorology - MesoWest Weather
Observations Page
- University
of
Utah
-
MesoWest
-
New
York
State
Weather
Observations