Weather Forecasting: Wildfire Weather

Weather across timescales influences wildland fires, from microscale temperature and humidity effects that determine whether a fire ignites, to thermal diurnal wind and humidity patterns and topographic flow effects on the wildfire spread rate and direction, to seasonal and interannual weather patterns favoring large fire growth. Dynamic feedback of heat and momentum fluxes between a fire and the atmosphere creates universally observed fire phenomena as fires create their own weather. Fires affect weather and the environment, as fire emissions reduce air quality through increased particulate levels and gases that chemically evolve to degrade regional air quality. Fires contribute to climate, as they release greenhouse gases and particulates that affect cloud microphysics and radiative properties.