National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Critical Fire Weather in the Southern High Plains; Heavy Snow in the Great Lakes and Northeast U.S.

Gusty winds and low relative humidity will bring elevated to critical fire weather conditions to the southern High Plains through the weekend. A winter storm will track across the Great Lakes and Northeast U.S. into Saturday with areas of wintry mix and heavy snow from northern New York through southern Maine. Read More >

Smoke dispersal is categorized by using the Ventilation Rate. Ventilation Rate forecasts for a specific point can be found using the Fire Weather Dashboard. Click a spot on the map and scroll down to find daily and hourly Ventilation Rate values for the next few days.

 

Fire Weather Dashboard

 

The link above is configured to display smoke dispersal categories as shown here:

 

  Smoke Dispersal Vent. Rate, knot-feet (x1000)
     Excellent             150 or greater
     Very Good 100 to 149.99
     Good 60 to 99.99
     Fair 40 to 59.99
     Poor less than 40

 

Ventilation Rate = Transport Wind (kts) Mixing Height (ft)