NWS IMETs continue to be deployed to Australia: January 13th update

National Weather Service Incident Meteorologists continue to be deployed to Australia where they are working with Meteorologists from the Australia Bureau of Meteorology. Among other things they are providing spot forecasts for specific locations where bush fires are burning so that the firefighters on the ground and in the air have the best possible forecasts.

Obtained from January 10, 2020 NWS IMET Facebook post on January 13, 2020

There is a nice news release from the National Weather Service dated January 10, 2020, the news release may be found here. NWS IMETs are deployed on six-week cycles through March 2020 per an agreement in place between the two governments.

Fire weather forecasting is specialized, the January 10th NWS news release discusses ome differences:

Forecasting for a wildfire is different from general weather forecasting, and requires unique knowledge and skills. For example, fires can create their own weather such as firestorms that produce dry lightning or send embers miles away from the storm. And a fire whirl, a swirling column of fire, is extremely hot and can be transient, making them very dangerous. Fire forecasters use a wide range of tools to get the job done. They closely monitor real-time observations of the atmosphere, such as wind, temperature and humidity, and they use advanced forecast models to predict weather parameters that will exacerbate current fires or create new starts.

A final point I want to mention from the article are differences because Australia is located in the southern hemisphere:

Forecasting in Australia, compared to North America, has its challenges. When forecasting south of the equator one must remember the trade winds blow from the southeast, the opposite direction than in North America and cold air comes from the south not the north as in the U.S.  And in Australia they use the metric system and the Celsius scale. Another task that takes getting used to for a forecaster is the difference in time zones between local (in Australia), UTC (the scientific universal time that meteorological data is time stamped with) and their home time zone, where they normally work.

Regular readers of this blog know that I am very fond of the NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs). You do important work, sometimes in difficult circumstances. I am sure that the Australian Bureau of Meteorology appreciates your help in their Sidney and Melbourne offices. Please know that your work is appreciated. Thank-you so very much. You are away from your loved ones, your sacrifice won't be forgotten.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today continues to provide extensive coverage of the Australian bushfires. Here is a link to Bill's articles tagged Australia.