National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Lake Effect Snow through Friday; Heavy Rain, Thunderstorms and Mountain Snow in California

Periods of moderate to heavy lake effect snow will continue through Friday downwind of Lake Erie and Ontario. Several additional inches of accumulating snow are expected. A Pacific storm will bring heavy rain and mountain snow across California, the Southwest and Intermountain West today. Isolated severe thunderstorms and scattered flash flooding is possible across parts of southern California. 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)