National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heavy Snow in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest; Severe Thunderstorms in the Southern U.S.

In the north-central U.S., a storm will bring heavy snow and gusty to high winds over parts of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest today before moving across the Great Lakes with heavy lake effect snow Wednesday into Thanksgiving Day. Isolated severe thunderstorms are likely across parts of the Southeast/Deep South, mainly from this morning into early evening. 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 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)