Tracking a Winter Storm; Unusual Early-Season Heat Wave in the Southwest

A major winter storm will organize across the Northern Plains today and then rapidly strengthen as it moves into the Great Lakes on Sunday. Heavy snow and blowing snow are likely to persist over the Great Lakes into Monday night. Dry and gusty winds will produce a critical fire risk across the central/southern Plains. An early heatwave will begin to intensify over the western U.S. into next week. 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) x Mixing Height (ft)

RIW RSS Feed

Tracking a Winter Storm; Unusual Early-Season Heat Wave in the Southwest

Smoke Dispersal (Ventilation Rate)

Fire Weather Dashboard