NWS Incident Meteorologist (IMETs) 97 Yrs Old, What IMETs Do

Direct link to 2021 video from NOAA Boulder on YouTube

Regular readers of my blog probably know that I am interested in the National Weather Service (NWS) Incident Meteorologist (IMETs) who are deployed to help with wildfire incidents. IMETs also help with hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters. When I saw the US NWS IMET office post this message on Facebook the other day stating they are 97 years old, I knew that I wanted to write about IMETs and to say thank-you for 97 years of service, What IMETs do is very important and I have a great deal of respect for them.

Direct link to July 29th post by the US National  Weather Service IMET on Facebook 

The NWS has a page which I have referred to in my earlier posts on IMETs called "Eyes on the Sky: A Day in the Life of an Incident Meteorologist (IMET) on the Front Lines of a Wildfire"  It is a relatively short article discussing what IMETs do including a short discussion of the daily life of an IMET while deployed on a fire. They article says in part:

"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."

In the 12 minute video that I embedded at the beginning of this post you will hear Lisa Kriederman, who was Meteorologist and IMET in the NWS Boulder Colorado office when this video was recorded in 2021. She goes into a some more detail about what IMETS do with pictures. Among the topics she discusses: what IMETs bring to their deployment (all equipment, laptops, etc.), morning briefings, keeping up with weather forecasts, and working with incident managers and the community. This is only a brief list of Ms. Kriederman says IMETs do and I hope you take the time to watch the entire video.