What NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) from an IMET

One of the wildfire social media sites that I check out periodically is the Facebook page of the US National Weather Service IMET, they also have a page on Twitter, NWS IMET Operations. The US National Weather Service (NWS) has a nice Fire Weather webpage with links to fire weather information including National Weather Service fire weather outlooks, a forecast map and link to other fire information. 

The video that I embedded above is from ABC15 Arizona about a Meteorologist in the NWS Flagstaff Weather Forecast office, Rickey, who is an IMET, "predicting weather: a day in the life of an incident meteorologist."

The IMET office posts about IMET deployments and other related news on these social media pages. I am not aware of any IMET deployments, but it is always possible that I have missed something. The NWS has a nice article called "Eyes on the Sky: A Day in the Life of an Incident Meteorologist (IMET) on the Front Lines of a Wildfire." This article has been around for a couple of years or so, and I find it very useful as a refresher about what IMETs do, here is an excerpt introducing what IMETs do and why:

Meteorologists from NWS work on the front lines to support agencies who prevent and fight wildfires, collaborating closely with state and local fire control agencies, as well as the Forest Service and other federal agencies.

Wildfires are not weather. However, weather conditions influence how easily a fire may start, how quickly it spreads and where the fire (and smoke) will move. Lightning strikes in dry areas are a common cause of these fires.

Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) help keep the fire crews safe by enabling responders to plan operations taking into account one of the most variable aspects of the incident — the weather. They are NWS Forecasters who have been specially trained and certified to provide weather support at a fire location.

IMETs keep firefighters safe by interpreting weather information, assessing its effect on the fire and communicating it to fire crews. Once on-site, IMETs become key members of the incident command teams and provide continuous meteorological support for the duration of the incident.

I want to emphasize that IMETs are a national resource, working across the entire United States. While many IMET deployments are to wildfires, IMETs also support other emergencies. I am comforted knowing that IMETs will be deployed to wildfires in the eastern U.S. should the need arise. IMETs can be deployed to other countries, e.g. three years ago IMETs were deployed to Australia to help with with their summer wildfire season.

Thanks to all IMETs for all you do to keep all safe on wildfires. IMETs save lives.