A little more about prescribed burns in New Jersey

Last Friday, March 13th, I wrote about several prescribed burns that were done that day. I have since heard from some friends in the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) that those prescribed burns that were done last Friday the 13th were the first prescribed burns of the season. A list of those burns that I listed on March 13th may be found in this NJFFS Facebook post.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service released a press release about the 2015 Prescribed Burning season in New Jersey on March 13th that may be found here.

A couple of points from the press release that I'd like to highlight here.

1. Why do prescribed burns? I like what the press release says:

The Forest Fire Service, part of the DEP’s Forestry Services, expects to burn about 10,000 acres of forests and grasslands this season. These fires burn brush, leaves, needles and debris but do not reach the canopy of the forest or cause significant tree loss as wildfires do. They improve forest health by removing thick undergrowth and competing non-native trees that can harm the overall health of the forest.

2. The New Jersey Forest Fire Services warns that residents in areas where prescribed burning is happening may see smoke and suggest that if residents are in doubt about the source of the smoke that they may contact 9-11 or 877-WARN-DEP (877-927-6337).

3. I know from first hand experience that roads near or adjoining areas where prescribed burns are taking place are indeed clearly marked. In my experience the signage is clear and you will know before you drive through an area where prescribed burning is occuring.

I don't know what effect our colder than normal winter and only recent snow melt has had on the prescribed burning season here in New Jersey. But I do know that I can check the New Jersey Forest Fire Service Facebook page for updates. And I'll share any updates I find here.

Prescribed burns in New Jersey (2015)

I have to admit that with the recent cold weather that we have had in New Jersey it has been a little hard to believe that our spring fire season is coming up. And even if there was no snow, it was hard for me to imagine to prescribed burning in the frigid temperatures that we have experienced this winter in New Jersey. Even with the more normal (for us temperatures) in Northern New Jersey this week, a snow pack still lingers. In my case, the snow pack is minimal, a couple of inches, covering about one-half of my property. But north of me, the snow pack will be deeper. South of me, as you can see from the Snow Depth graphic from the National Snow Analyses from the U.S. National Weather Service’s National Operation Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center, there is no snow pack.

Obtained on March 13, 2015 from

NOHRSC Ntl Snow Analysis 

While I am hardly an expert in such things, I know that once the snow pack is gone the potential exists for the ground to dry out pretty quickly. And with that the start of the spring wildfire season.

In advance of the spring fire season here in New Jersey, prescribed burning is done. I suspect that the persistent snow pack through much of January into late February/early March has resulted in fewer prescribed burns. The lack of snow cover in central and southern New Jersey means that they are able to do prescribed burning. Unfortunately, I don’t quite know when prescribed burning started in the central and southern part of New Jersey (Sections B and C). However, thanks to my friends at the NJFFS Section B-10 website  I know that  there is prescribed burning going on today in the following areas in New Jersey (what you see when you access tPete's NJ Wildland Fire Page: Section B10
will differ depending on when you accessing their page):

NEW JERSEY FOREST FIRE SERVICE DIVISION B


• Section B2 — Burlington County, Washington Twp. Warton State Forest, 50 acres, grass

• Section B4 — Ocean County, Eagleswood Twp, Stafford WMA, 50 acres, grass
• Section B6 — Ocean County, Manchester Twp, Manchester WMA, 50 acres, grass
• Section B10, Monmouth County, Monmouth Battlefield, 203 acres, grass

NEW JERSEY FOREST FIRE SERVICE DIVISION C

• Section C3 — Cumberland County, Commercial and Downe Twp., Milleville and Buckstutem WMA, 90 acres, grass
• Section C4 — Cumberland County, Maurice Twp. Peasley WMA, 100 acres, grass

It is supposed to rain tonight into Saturday and possibly into early Sunday which probably means no prescribed burning anywhere in the State this weekend.

Smokejumping: Reflections

When I first got seriously interested in wildland firefighting I got in touch with a former professor with whom I studied a little about forestry (among other things) while I was in graduate school. I told Marc about my interest in wildland firefighting. He suggested that I read Young Men and Fire by Norman McLean about Mann Gulch . A short time later, I read Jumping Fire, by Murray A.Taylor about his life as a smokejumper. So you could say that one of my introductions to wildland firefighting was through smokejumping.

One of these days on one of my treks out west, I’ll have an opportunity to visit a Smokejumper Base or two. I’d love to see up close and personal some of what I’ve seen in videos about what happens at a Smokejumper Base. Perhaps I’d be able to visit one of the smokejumping aircraft up close and personal.

Over the last several days, I have grown to appreciate the complexity of all that is involved in smokejumping. I don’t know if what I have posted previously or plan to post in the capture will adequately capture all that is involved in smokejumping from training to practice jumps to getting the call to a fire to jumping to the fire to working the fire.

As I continue to write this blog on the different aspects of aerial wildland firefighting, I hope that some of my respect for all wildland firefighters whether the be on the ground or in the air as well as their support staff comes through in what I share.

Before I leave, I do hope to continue the series on smokejumping 101 (see articles from March 3rd, March 4th, and March 9th). I have some queries out to get some more information on smokejumping to share with you. But this process may take a several days. So stay tuned, I'll be back with more articles in my series on smokejumping as soon as I can.

Added on May 29, 2015: I spent some time thinking about how I will approach any future articles on smokejumping. I'm not sure at this point when I'll be making more posts on smokejumping. Over the course of the current wildfire season (2015) I will be looking to try learn more about smokejumping. Because I do not live in close proximity to any Smokejumping bases, this will be difficult. However, I am hoping that I might be able to learn something about smokejumping that I can share with you.

Smokejumping 101 part 3: More on Smokejumper Aircraft

Here are some videos and or pictures of four smokejumper aircraft. Later this week I'll be back with more in this series

Twin Otter
8 smokejumpers


direct link to video

Casa 212
10 smokejumpers

Practice jump Casa 212


direct link to video

Shorts Sherpa
10 smokejumpers

I believe that the aircraft you are seeing in the video from KQED on the California Smokejumpers that I embed below is a Shorts Sherpa. If the embed code doesn’t work, the direct link should work. I first shared this video in August 2014, but it is approrpriate to share it again.

direct link to video

I shared some links to photos and videos of the Sherpa on February 27, 2015. (I was having trouble with this link, and if it doesn't work just scroll down a bit on the main page of my blog and you should find the post).

Dornier 228
8 smokejumpers
picture from California Smokejumpers Aircraft page (bottom of page)

Alaska Smokejumpers

I was hoping to write a little more about the different types of smokejumper aircraft. As sometimes happens, I have to take a little more time to do some more research before I write my article. Sorry about that. I’m not going to take too long on this phase of my research, and it is my intention to post a second article next week, either on March 9 or March 11.

In the meantime, I have previously shared videos about Alaska Smokejumpers on December 28, 2012 (SJ training) and on January 2, 2013 (2012 season). I found some more videos about Alaska Smokejumpers that I want to share with you to share with you from the Alaska Film Archives. They have a collection of nine videos showcasing Alaska Smokejumpers, I am sharing three with you.

Air to air video of Alaska smokejumpers jumping from a Volpar aircraft (1986)



direct link to video


Alaska smokejumpers exiting airplanes (2005)



direct link to video


Wildfire and retardant drops from Alaska Smokejumpers collection (1985-1996)



direct link to video

Smokejumping 101 - part 2: About Smokejumper Aircraft

Just as the Interagency Airtanker Board approves Interagency Airtanker Board (IAB) Multi-engine Tankers, SEATS, Helitankers and Retardant tanks the Smokejumper Aircraft Screening and Evaluation Board (SASEB) evaluates and approves

smokejumper/paracargo aircraft and related accessories, initiatives, proposals and issues. SASEB will provide guidance for standardization, when evaluating new interagency smokejumper/paracargo aircraft and related aircraft accessories (Smokejumper Aircraft Screening and Evaluation Board (SASEB)).

There is a list of SASEB approved aircraft dated 2004 on the Smokejumper Aircraft Screening and Evaluation Board (SASEB) website, but if you click on the 2004 Meeting Approved List the resulting document is dated August 2, 2000. It isn’t quite clear to me if the SASEB approved aircraft list has been revised since that time.

What I do know is that I found a listing of Smokejumper Aircraft 2015 from the National Interagency Coordination Center’s aviation page. Of course, if you are landing here sometime after 2015, I’m not sure what will happen when you click on the link that I gave. Anyway, the listing of smokejumper aircraft that will be used in 2015 includes some useful information. such as the tail number, aircraft type, aircraft identifier and assigned base.

Four types of smokejumper aircraft will be used in 2015: Twin Otter DHC-6, Sherpa, Dornier, and Casa 212. I will write more about these four aircraft types on Friday, March 5.

Looking to the future, Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has been reporting about 15 Sherpa C-23B aircraft that the U.S. Army is transferring to the U.S. Forest Service, his latest article was written on October 28, 2014. He asked Jennifer Jones, a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson for an update:

As of 9/11/14, a total of 10 C-23B+/SD3-60s have been transferred from the DoD to the U.S. Forest Service and the remainder are scheduled to be transferred within the next few weeks. . . . 

The U.S. Forest Service will locate one aircraft in Ogden, Utah to serve as the prototype aircraft for FAA Civil Certification as an SD3-60 Sherpa and will then conform the rest of the C-23B+ aircraft to that standard. One of the three aircraft located in Redmond, Oregon will be used to complete the Smokejumper Aircraft Screening and Evaluation Board (SASEB) approval process and to develop pilot familiarity and training. The other aircraft will be progressively certified, configured for wildfire suppression missions, and brought into service. 

The U.S. Forest Service expects to begin bringing the aircraft into service incrementally (two to four aircraft per year) beginning in 2016 . . .

For more information on the 15 Sherpa C-23B aircraft read Bill’s October 28, 2014 article. I expect that Bill will continue to report on this as new developments arise so you might check out Fire Aviation every so often.

Stay tuned for my next article in this series where I’ll continue to write about smokejumper aircraft.

Smokejumping 101 - part 1

Some of you might have guessed that I am working on a series on Smokejumpers. I am still developing this series as I write this. I hope to present either some different information from that I have presented in earlier articles or else (hopefully) present some additional information about subjects that I have already written about.

I thought that I’d begin with an article, which will be a review of sorts, listing the Smokejumper Bases. In one article that I wrote on Smokejumping, on July 15, 2009, I listed the nine Smokejumper Bases. To review, these bases are:

US Forest Service
McCall, Idaho
Grangeville, Idaho
Redding, California
West Yellowstone, Montana
Missoula, Montana
Winthrop, Washington
Redmond, Oregon

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Boise, Idaho
Fairbanks, Alaska [note smoke jumpers in Alaska are a branch of the Alaska Fire Service and the BLM]

The USFS maintains a webpage listing the current Smokejumper Bases along with locations and contact info that I obtained from here.

The National Smokejumpers Users Guide-2011 (SJ Users Guide) is an easy to read document with a lot of basic information. I found some useful information that answered some questions that I had. On page 5 of the SJ Users Guide I found the same listing of USFS and BLM Smokejumper Bases this time listed by region with the number of personnel at each base, along with a map. According to the SJ Users Guide (2011), page 5 there “are about 325 Forest Service smokejumpers” based at the seven USFS bases (at least when the SJ Users Guide was printed in 2011), and 145 BLM smokejumpers. USFS and BLM smokejumpers are interchangeable.

I had read that smokejumpers sometimes operate out of other bases, these bases are listed on page 5 of the SJ Users Guide and are also included in the map. Unfortunately I can not reproduce the map here, so I hope that you will take a few moments and look at the map.These other bases that have been used are referred to as “spike bases:”

Vernal, Utah
Price Utah
Moab, Utah,
Pocatello, Idaho
Salmon, Idaho
Santa Fe New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Prescott, Arizona
Cannon City, Colorado
Durango, Colorado
Elko Nevada

I will continue with this series on Smokejumpers tomorrow or Thursday where I’ll write a little more about Smokejumper aircraft.

A little about the history of California smokejumpers and their aircraft

Between going outside and working on some ice that is or was blocking the underground pipe that drains one of my gutter downspouts I have been reading more about the Smokejumper program. I had been hoping to make a post today, perhaps the first of a few posts, but I am running out of time today. I will return tomorrow with some more information.

But in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy reading some information that I found on the California Smokejumpers-Redding wepage. They have a lot of great information, and I have spent at least one hour, perhaps more, looking at various pieces of information. I will point you to three items that I read this afternoon:

Development of Smokejumping in the U.S.
How the California Smokejumpers Began
California Smokejumper Aircraft

Smokejumper Aircraft: Shorts Sherpa C-23A

I  am pretty certain that I embedded a video last August showing the California Smokejumpers from Redding shows the smoke jumpers jumping out of a Shorts Sherpa C23A.  The California Smokejumpers - Redding have an aircraft page where you can learn more about the current aircraft they use (Shorts Sherpa and Dornier (contracted) as well as past aircraft.

The Sherpa 330 is made by the Shorts Brothers in Northern Ireland and is known as a flying wing because of its unique, aerodynamic body shape. The Sherpa has a cruise speed of 160 knots, carries up to 10 jumpers and is jumped from a stand-up position. It has a range of approximately 300 miles and is currently still used at Redding. (California Smokejumpers-Redding about aircraft) 

The Missoula Smokejumpers have a publicly available Facebook page that may be found where their aircraft photo album has a couple of pictures of a Sherpa.

More on McCall Smokejumpers and their aircraft

I shared a great video about the McCall Smokejumpers on January 5th and if you haven't looked at this video (just under seven minutes), I hope that you take the time to look at it. I wanted to dig up some photos of the other smokejumper aircraft, the DH-6 300 series Twin Otter, the Shorts Sherpa C-23, Dornier, and Casa. I have just begun this process and in found a couple of photo galleries from the McCall Smokejumpers with some photos of the Smokejumper aircraft.

I loved the first photo gallery, McCall Smokejumpers 2014 which you may view as a slide show starting with here with the first photo. Included in this wonderful photogallery (please take a few moments to go thru the pictures) you will some pictures of a Twin Otter Smokejumper aircraft. In fact there are several pictures of the Twin Otter through out the gallery.

The McCall Smokejumpers have a photo page which includes an aircraft gallery including photos of Smokejumper aircraft (DC-3T, and the Twin Otter).

Last season for last DC-3 smokejumper aircraft - Jump 15

Earlier today, I read that this is the last season for the last DC-3 smokejumper aircraft, see Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation Blog (February 22, 2015) and an article (February 21, 2015) from the Missoulian. Here is passage from the Missoulian February 22nd article where I got a sense of how much she is loved by her pilots and passengers.

“It has been flying since my grandpa was in the Army Air Corps,” smokejumper Colby Jackson said as the big plane’s engines howled through a pre-season test run. “He always gets a kick seeing pictures of us with the DC-3. He was stationed with them in Africa, when they were C-47s.” 

Jump-15 (its radio call sign) is the last DC-3 still hauling smokejumpers and backcountry cargo for the U.S. Forest Service. Pilots love her ability to land and launch from tiny forest airstrips, her muscle and endurance. Jumpers love her big exit door and reputation for reliability. With room for 16 parachute-strapped firefighters and all their gear, Jump-15 has twice the capacity of any other jump plane on the runway.

And in the 2005 video below at about marker 1:45 Smokejumper Skodt Jones talks about one of the DC-3 smokejumper aircraft (not sure which one). Jump 15's sister, Jump 42 retired a couple of years ago. I wrote about the DC-3 Smokejumper Airplanes on December 31, 2010.

direct link to video

Jump 15, I have never had the privilege of meeting you in person. I know that you are loved. You have served long as well as a smokejump aircraft. I wish that I knew how many missions you flew and where. You are almost 70 years old, wow. I wasn't born yet. A lot of us weren't born yet. You are a special lady, the last one of your kind flying as a smokejumper aircraft. I wish you, your pilots, and your smokejumpers in this your last season. Be safe. 

Geronimo Hotshots 2014 season - part 2 of 2

When I posted what is now part 1 of 2 about the Geronimo Hotshots 2014 season video - Life as a Geronimo Hotshot (posted on February 16th), I did mean to watch the entire video and add some comments prior to the time the post went live. To make a long story shorts, I had to attend some unexpected personal issues the last four days, so I only now was able to sit down and watch this 25 minute video.

If you haven't watched the video, I hope that you take 25 minutes and do so now. I certainly learned a lot about the life of a hotshot crew by watching this video. More importantly, I feel like I learned about what it means to be a Geronimo Hotshot thanks to having this peak at their 2014 season. the video was shot using a Go Pro Camera, thanks to Mario Dia.

A few minutes at the start of the video is spent showing the recruitment, focusing on at least some of the fitness and agility tests that Geronimo Hotshots must pass. Footage was shown of the following tests, I suspect that there are other fitness tests that were not shown

• running 1.5 miles in under 10 minutes 35 seconds,
• 40 situps in one minute,
• pull ups, the number is based on body weight, and
• 25 pushups in one minute,

Much of the video focuses on some (but not all) of different tasks the Geronimo Hotshot crew does on a wild fire. You will see labeled footage on the following tasks:

• handlines,
• chain saw operations,
• line preparation,
• (tree) falling operations,
• ignition operations (with a drip torch),
• the lookout,
• hot spotting, cold trail, and mop-up operations,
• hiking into and out of the fire,
• air operations (at 13:15) shot from the ground including a couple of scenes where a couple of the crew are cheering a drop,
• single resource firing boss, and
• single resource crew boss (leading other crews into fires)

You will also learn about some of the instruction and teaching that the Geronimo Hotshots do. The all important role of the wilderness medic on the crew is discussed along with how the crew medevacs an injured crew member.

Included near the end of the video is a nice tribute to fallen wildland firefighters. The video ends with an introduction to each of the Geronimo Hotshots.

The beauty of this video for me was twofold: (1) an educational video where I learned about some of the specific tasks that the Geronimo Hotshot crew does, and by extension other Hotshot crews, and (2) getting to know the 2014 Geronimo Hotshot crew as a crew, seeing them working together on wildfires.

Dash Cam footage from Colorado grass fire.

direct link to video

Thanks to my friends at the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B-10 website for posting this video on their fire videos of the week page (updated weekly).

Geronimo Hotshots 2014 season - part 1 of 2

I admit that I only had time to watch less than half this video from the Geronimo Hotshots about their 2014 season, including their training. But in the interest of getting something out here for Monday in case I am unable to post on Monday due to outages, well here it is. Enjoy.

Allow just under 25 minutes to watch this video.

Updated on February 20th, you might be interested in what is now part 2 of 2 on the Geronimo Hotshots 2014 season (posted on February 20th) where I offer some brief reflections and include a list of what I learned from the video. Circumstances prevented from doing so before this post went live.



direct link to video

My weather happenings

We are due to have a high wind event that was due to start late on February 14th going into February 15th. It is possible that I might either lose power or my internet. And I only have one or two posts ready to go at this point. So, if I'm not around online, that is why. And if I'm unable to post, I'll be back as soon as possible with an update on my weather and more articles.

 February 15 update (5:30 PM). The worst of the winds in NJ are off the shore as I write this. The winds were high but not as bad as they could have been. Localised scattered power outages, again not as bad is it could have been. We got about 3.5 inches of snow, higher then other nearby areas. A lot of blowing and drifting snow. As many of you know, Southern New England, Coastal Maine, and areas of Canada are seeing blizzard conditions and even more snow. We will be in the deep freeze (by New Jersey standards) tonight and again later this week. For all who are affected by today's storms and other winter weather to come, stay safe out there. And stay warm

California Drought - Feb 13 update

I want to followup on the post I wrote on February 11th about the ongoing droughts in California. Yesterday, February 13th, the NWS California Nevada River Forecast Center (CNRFC) posted videos (in three parts) with an update on the water supply conditions for California on February 13th, 2015. These videos may also be found on the CNRFC youtube channel, and their facebook page (posted Feb. 13th, 2015)

Note that you will see on the beginning of each video "do not use after 5PM PST on February 20th, 2015. What this means is that if you are happening on this page after February 20th, that the information presented in the videos will not be current. In that case current updates on the water supply conditions in California (updated daily) may be found on this CNRFC page on water resources.

The Latest Water Supply Conditions for California. Part 1: How Did We Get into a Drought


direct link to video


The Latest Water Supply Conditions for California. Part 2 - Reservoir Storage


direct link to video


The Latest Water Supply Conditions for California. Part 3 - Water Supply Projections


direct link to video

Airtankers working bushfires in Australia (January 2015)

I’d like to share some videos of large air tankers working bushfires in Australia. You will see Coulson’s C-130Q and Aero Flite’s Avro RJ-85.

Thanks to Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation who first shared this video of large air tankers (C-130Q and an Avro RJ-85) at RAAF Base Edinburgh along with a Gulfstream Aero Commander (Air Attack). These aircraft worked bushfires that burned near Adelaide in early January of 2015 (see this January 7th article from the New Daily for a summary of this 12,500 hectares and destroyed about 32 residences before being contained. See Bill’s article of January 8th where he shared and described the video that I embed below:


direct link to video

Here is another video that I found of the C-130Q, also at RAAF Base Edinburgh:


direct link to video

Finally, here is a video of the Avro RJ-85 dropping on a fire in Victoria Australia, thanks to Fire Aviation (2/4/15) where I first saw this video.


direct link to video

California droughts - quick update

The ongoing drought in California has been on my mind since my trip to San Diego before Thanksgiving, see the reflections that I wrote on December 1, 2014. And of course, the drought in California and elsewhere has implications for wildfire danger. I continue to follow the California drought and will be writing more on the California drought from time to time. I'd like to share a few resources with you concerning the drought.

The California Nevada River Forecast Center has a drought information page with lots of information about the drought, both nationally as well as focusing on California and Nevada. Near the top of the page you will see the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map. The one below is dated February 3 2015 (released on February 5)

The California River Forecast Center has a presence on both Facebook and Twitter.

The California Department of Water Resources has a drought information page, also chock full of information on the drought including information about California's Water Year 2014 (October 1, 2013 to Septenmber 30, 2014) reporting on below normal snowpack from last winter and below normal rainfall.

I know that California has seen some more rainfall since the rains that came last December (go here and here for more information on one of the December rain storms in California). I also understand that the snowpack in the mountains of California is again below normal, see a January 30th article by Matt Weiser of the Sacromento Bee here.

I do know that there were more rains in areas of California a few days ago. I am in the process of finding more information to share with you on those rains, so stay tuned.

Aerial Snow Surveys - NWS NOHRSC - Winter 2015 (#2)

A few days after the lake-effect snow storm that ocurred the week before Thanksgiving 2014 I first learned about aerial snow surveys. These aerial snow surveys are overseen by the National Weather Service's National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center  (NOHRSC).I wrote about the aerial snow surveys in an article I posted on November 24, 2014. I am still learning about the science of these snow surveys, which fascinates me. I am still learning, so I am not exactly in the postion to speak to the science.

But I am interested in what snow NOHRSC has done this winter. As I have interests in New England where the southern areas have seen significant amounts of snow this winter, I went to the NOHRSC snow survey page and saw a list of snow surveys conducted to date during the 2014-2015 winter. There are links for snow surveys done to date. I should note that for those of you who might be arriving at this article after this winter is over, I am not certain how long the 2014-2015 snow survey information is available. 

You might see snow surveys done in or near your State or other States that are of interest. I am going to use the example of aerial snow surveys done in New England and portions of New York (for the Northeast River Forecast Center (NERFC). So I click on the link for NERFC Snow Survey, and land on the 2015 NERFC Snow Survey Page. The aircraft fly certain pre-determined flight lines, you may see the flight lines for New England and portions of New York on this map. There is other information on this page which is used in determing snow water equivalent measurements (a measurement of the amount of water in the snow if the snow is completely melted, see the NOHRSC glossary on the NOHRSC help page. I am interested in aerial photography and am also interested in the flight lines flown on the survey. So, I am going to focus here on the digital aerial photographs taken on these flights. I found the photos fun to look at and I thought that some of you might enjoy these photos.

I followed a link for aerial survey photos that I found on the top left corner of the 2015 NERFC Snow Survey Page  where I landed on a page of several photos taken on the NERFC Snow Survey (#11). I was interested in exactly where these photos were taken, and I was not disappointed. NOHRSC very nicely included a kmz file containing the photos with the esact location where the photo is taken that I could download and read in Google Earth.  Photos are taken from 500 to 1,000 feet above ground level.

I focused here on New England and portions of New York. As I write this, portions of Ohio and Pennsylvania, Montana, Wisconsin and Michigan have been surveyed in NOHRSC's snow survey program. And as the winter goes on, other states will be surveyed as well. If I am in a position to write a little more about the science of the snow surveys, I'll write a follow-up article or two. 

Oklahoma wildfires (January 2015)

Thanks to my friends at the NJ Section B10 website's fire videos page I have two videos of the recent wildfires that burned in Oklahoma to share with you.


direct link to video


direct link to video

I have a couple things in the works, updates to earlier articles I wrote on the California droughts and the National Weather Service's NOHRSC's aerial snow surveys. Stay tuned for those updates next week.

On the international wildfire front

I get a lot of my news about wildfires burning outside the United States from Mike Archers WNOTD in his six-day a week e-mail Wildfire News of the Day, which you may subscribe to here. Bill Gabbert also has good coverage of international wildfire news on Wildfire Today. I can’t do justice to all the international wildfire news in one short article. But I do want to acknowledge here that I am keenly aware that wildfires are a global issue.

To that end here are a few international wildfire news items of the last three to five days that have caught my attention with links where you can go for more information.

It is summer in Australia and that means bushfire season. The Northcliffe Bushfire in Western Australia that has burned 143,000 acres: Wildfire Today (Feb 3rd) and Wildfire Today (Feb 4th). See also: Yahoo - GWN 7 (Feb 3rd), The West Australian (with photo gallery), and Australian Broadcasting Corp on animal rescue.

Moving from Australia to New Zealand, the Stuff.co.nz (Jan 31st) reporting that a 330 hectare wildfire in Flock Hill Station, New Zealand has been contained.

Finally, moving to Africa, n 86 acre wildfire in Uganda is covered by New Vision (Jan 31st). Note I had trouble loading this link, it worked intermittantly.

Tanker Tidbits (2/3/15)

Some news about the tanker biz from the last few weeks.

Tankers in Australia. In December 20143, two Next-Generation Tankers went on contract in Australia: Conair’s RJ-85 and Coulson’s C-130 Q. Bill Gabbert wrote about this on his Fire Aviation Blog on December 14, 2014 and December 16, 2014. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation covered the first drops of the C-130 and the RJ-85 in an article on December 16, 2014

Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation wrote an interesting and must read article on January 21st updating the status of USFS C-130s. As I understand it, the C-130s are government owned but will be contractor operated with maintenance provided by the U.S. Air Force.

There is $65 million for US Forest Service wildland firefighting air tankers included in the fiscal 2015 spending bill that was passed by Congress in December 2014. There is speculation that these funds might be used by the US Forest Service to purchase a new airtanker. For further coverage and discussion see Bill Gabbert’s Fire Aviation article (12/16/14) and E & E Publishing (January 2015).

Coulson Aviation USA discusses upgrades to their tanker fleet in an article on bclocal news (11/20/14).

Los Angeles Fire Department Helos

As sometimes happens, I was working on something that I intended to post today but got distracted with dealing with the latest round of winter weather in my parts. So I will be back with the intended post tomorrow.

In the meantime, a while back I found this nice video on youtube by David and Cameron Barrett (2009) some footage from a documentary they did on Los Angeles Fire Department Helos. It is possible that this is a rerun perhaps from an earlier video of the week. But I love reruns, especially about helos.

The video is a little over four minutes and I think you will enjoy it.



direct link to video on youtube


For Matt, you are flying in flying in favorable tailwinds

Wildfire Tidbits (1/30/15)

Whatever I am blogging about, I do try to keep up with what is going regarding wildland fires and news in the tanker biz. I’m not even going to try to play “catch-up” in all that has been going on over the last five weeks in this one article. Rather, I’ll touch on some tidbits from the last few days.

• The Florida Forest Service has been doing prescribed fires this week (and perhaps earlier?) They posted information on prescribed burns larger than 700 acres on January 27 and January 28. Not included in the list for January 27th was a 12,300 acre prescribed fire in Goethe State Forest in Levy County, FL .
• Wildfires burned this week in Oklahoma in Okfuskee County, near the Tulsa OK metropolitan region, and Mannford.
• A 60-acre wildfire in Pacifica CA that caused some evacuations earlier this week (Contracostatimes article and Wildfire Today (1/26/15) with pictures)
• Wildfires near the Buffalo National River in Arkansas burned some 1,700 acres last week. The National Park Service reopened the Buffallo National River on or about January 26th .

If I do nothing else, at the very least I check out Bill Gabbert’s Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation blogs along with Michael Archer’s Wildfire News of the Day where you can subscribe to his 6-day a week e-mail newsletter here.

Images of the Blizzard that hit southern New England and Long Island

The recent snow storm of Jan 26-7 left me with about 3.5 inches, not complaining. But some of the slop froze on the side of my driveway so I had to work to get it off. Thanks to the sun and some calcium chloride got rid of the last of the snow a couple of hours ago. In time for perhaps more snow later this weekend. Anyway, I did spend about 3 hours working on chipping ice off my driveway so I'm a little tired.

But I do sometimes post about weather events and I thought that some of you might be interested in a couple of satellite images of the storm. These two images are both taken from the Suomi NPP Satellite (National Polar-orbiting Partnership). Pretty cool images, don't you think?

from 

NOAA Satellite Twitter feed

from Suomi NPP, extent of snowfall from 1/26-7 blizzard, taken 1/28/15 @ 1:50 PM

 from
NOAA Satellite Twitter Feed

Suomi NPP captures Blizzard near peak intensity, 1/27/15 @ 1:45 AM EST

Finally,  a short video of the cloud cover from the Blizzard. The video shows some color images captured by Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) East and West. The images were taken from January 25th to 27th.



direct link to video from NOAA Satellites

What I’ve been doing - weather

I thought I’d write a little about some of things that I’ve been thinking about and doing the last four to five weeks.

As a non-pilot aviation enthusiast, I have also gotten more and more interested in meteorology. So, I have been doing some reading and spending some time with a couple of sources on the internet. Not quite sure where this lead in terms of blog articles.

What I can offer is that I learn a lot by following my local National Weather Service Office, NWS Philadelphia/Mt Holly, and reading their various products including but not limited to their forecast discussion (for an example go here. I read the discussion and check out highlighted terms I don’t know in their glossary by clicking on the highlighted term. If you aren’t familiar with these forecast discussions, they can be a little daunting at first. It took me several months of reading them, coupled with reading a couple of meteorology books to get a very basic understanding of what they are talking about. I also follow NWS Mt Holly on their Facebook site where I have learned a great deal. Most other NWS offices have a presence on Facebook so check out yours if you haven’t already done so, they are publicly available but you have to have a Facebook account to make a comment.

One other resource that I use a lot is the National Weather Service’s Jetstream - Online School for Weather. The JetStream is great and easy to understand, at least I think it is easy to understand. Another site that I’ve spent some time with is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Education Resources Page (the NWS is under NOAA).

On the more technical end, with many of the modules being designed for meteorologists and related professionals is Comet MetEd. It is free but you have to register. There are oddles of modules to choose from which you can take online or download and read on your computer. I should warn you that many of these modules are on the technical side and there are some that I have read through where I have to skim over the parts that I don’t understand. Fortunately, where I have had to do so, I have been able to get something out of the modules. There is an exam at the end of each module, I’ve only taken a couple of exams in the more basic modules.

Edited on January 27, 2015 to add:

When I wrote this article yesterday, I was intending to write more reflections on my interest in meteorology. Instead, I have decided to not write anything further on my interest in meteology, at least not in the forseeable future.

But I do want to conclude by sharing two books focusing on Weather on the United States, both by Jack Williams:

The Weather Book: an Easy-to-Understand Guide to the USA's Weather, second edition (1997), by Jack Williams.

The AMS Weather Book: The Ultimate Guide to America's Weather (2009), by Jack Williams, co-published by the American Meteorology Society.

Finally, I have a "meteorology text book", Meteorology Today, ninth edition (2009) by C. Donald Ahrens. These types of text books, with an online component that I did not purchase, are often revisied every three years. The latest edition is Meteorology Today, twelfth edition (2019) by C. Donald Ahrens and Robert Henson. This book is a lot more expensive new copies can range from $125 to $175.

Malawi Floods - update # 2

When I first wrote about the recent flooding in Malawi on January 21, 2015, I wrote that I had spent two weeks in Malawi in 2007. I had the privilege of traveling with some wonderful people, most of whom were from California, who were doing work with HIV (through an organization known as GAIA) and I was interested at the time in issues around the provision of clean water.  I have since lost touch with the wonderful people who were my travel companions, and I think of them often. My life has taken a very different direction since my trip to Malawi in 2007, but what I saw in Malawi changed me.

One of the districts in Malawi that has been among the most severely affected districts is a district in southern Malawi known as Chikwawa (map of Malawi highlighting districts affected by the 2015 floods). We spent part of a day in the Chikwawa district, by far the most remote and among the poorest areas that we visited in Malawi. I write about traveling on as remote and rutted dirt road in the Chikwawa district, a village (Mindanti) we visited and a drive to Father Patrick’s (Anglican) Church here. I was interested in a water well that was then under construction in the Mindanti. The day we drove that road (during the dry season), it was lightly raining but many of the rivers and streams we crossed over were dry. Prior to going to Malawi, I had heard that the road we were on is impassable during a normally rainy season, this was confirmed by our driver. I could see why.

I wonder how the people in Mindanti and Father Patrick's Church made out during the floods.

I feel wholly inadequate writing that my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Southeastern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar) that have been affected by flooding, see this report and map dated January 23 for a summary of information from each country.  Malawi often sees a lot of rain during this time of year, its rainy season. As I understand it, this is the worst flooding that Malawi has seen in some 30 years. And as it is still relatively early in the rainy season in Malawi, more heavy rains may make recovery efforts difficult.

One website that I have been to that has a good summary of some of the current conditions and some of the ongoing relief efforts is from ReliefWeb. As I write this ReliefWeb has a nice page summarizing focusing on Malawi with links to information about the recent floods that may be found here, however if you are accessing this page sometime after these floods, the information on this page may change.

The government of Malawi has a preliminary response plan for the 2015 floods where they report that:

• an estimated 638,00 people have been affected,
• an estimated 174,000 people have been displaced from their homes and are living at various displacement sites,
• 62 people are dead, and
• 153 are missing.

Included among the international relief agencies currently working in Malawi are World Food Programme, Doctors without Borders, and Gift of the Givers (Gift of the Givers photo gallery of destruction). I am certain that there are many other relief organizations working in Malawi that I am not mentioning here. I did find a link to a South Africa media site (includes TV and radio) known as SABC. I did notice, through searching on their website for "Malawi flood" some stories on the recent floods in Malawi, for example this one dated January 20th reports on difficult access.

Edited on January 24, 2015 to add link to Gift of the Givers and SABC website.

Flooding in Malawi

Some of you may or may not know that in June 2007 I spent two weeks in Malawi. It was only yesterday that I learned of the recent floods that have devastated southern Malawi. I wrote about my trip to Malawi here in this blog starting on June 14, 2007. Among the districts flooded in Malawi (see this map from Relief Web) are three districts where I spent at least night: Salima (Stayed in Carolina's Beach Resort in Salima), Blantyre, and Zomba. At least 173 are dead. I've seen reports of 20,000 to as much as 70,000 people being displaced or cutoff due to the flooding.

It feels only appropriate that I take a time out from my usual postings and write a post or two about the flooding in Malawi.

For more information on the flooding in Malawi

CNN report on Malawi
Reliefweb on Malawi (1/14/15 report)
Gift of the Givers 1/17/15 FB post on Malawi Flooding

video report from Washington Post TV (Reuters) 

direct link to video from AFP News Agency

Updated on May 2, 2016 to remove dead links.

More Marine Helos working San Diego County Wildfires (May 2014)

Following up on my post of January 14 where I shared a 6 minute video showing various Marine Helos (and perhaps a Navy Helo?) working the wildfires that burned in San Diego County in May 2014, here is a 16 1/2 minute video where you will see Helicopters from the Marine Medium Helicopter Training Squadron (HMMT) 164, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton working the Tomahawk Fire. The video is by Cpl. Megan Scullin, 3D Marine Aircraft Wing Combat Camera.

I believe that much of the footage involves a Boeing Veritol CH-46 Sea Knight. You will see external shots as well as internal shots. There are also shots of the bucket being hooked up and deploying the bucket. I enjoyed the chance to see the CH-46 more up close and personal. Nice Video Cpl. Scullin.

Enjoy!


direct link to video

Rim Fire - largest fire in California history

I got caught up in some technical difficulties connecting to the internet which are now resolved. My intention was to share another video about Marine helicopters (up close and personal) used in the May 2014 wildfires that burned in San Diego County, California. This will have to wait until next Monday.

In the meantime, here is a very nice video from Yosemite National Park about the Rim Fire that burned in 2013. This is, to date, the largest wildfire in California history. They talk about things to think about regarding wildland fire management.



direct link to video

Marine Helos fighting (May 2014) San Diego County Wildfires

I ran across a nice video the other day of Marine Helicopters working the May 2014 wildfires in San Diego County, California (see my May 15, 2014 article and Bill Gabbert's May 18, 2014 article). I really liked this video because I got to see a variety of military helicopters that I don't normally get to see.

I wanted some help to confirm the type of helicopter that you see in the opening shots of the video, so I asked a good friend who worked with helicopters to help. He is busy, but took a few moments to watch the video. Thank-you!! As I suspected, my friend told me that the helicopter that you see in the opening shots of this video is a Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight, the civilian version is the Boeing-Vertol 107 IIs. In 2009, I wrote a couple of articles on the Boeing Vertol 107.

My friend went on to offer his best identification of some of the other helicopters in the video (I am not sure where in the video you see them): Bell Super Cobra, Bell Twin Huey, and Sikorsky CH-53 Super Stallion. The links that I included here are the best that I could do to offer some information (from wikipedia) on what could be these three helicopters.

In any event, I enjoyed watching all the helicopters in the video. You will also see hot reloading of fuel at Camp Pendleton, where I believe that fuel is reloaded while the engine is running.


direct link to video

Type 2 Initial Attack Wildfire Crew - Alaska Delta 2 (2008)

Here is a nice video of a Type 2 Initial Attack from Alaska, Delta Type 2 Intial Attack Crew 1, fighting fires in Alaska in 2008. Included in this eight minute video is a short tribute to those who died at the Iron Mountain Complex.


direct link to video

________________________

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has written extensively about the crash of the Carson Helicopter at the Iron Mountain Complex that killed 7 firefighters, the pilot-in-command and a USFS check pilot here. Two former Carson employees pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the crash (see Bill Gabbert's Nov. 24 2014 post.

Type 2 Initial Attack Wildfire Crew - Delaware 2012 season

Before and after the holidays, I've been sharing videos about different types of wildland fire crews. Today I am embedding a video from the Delaware Type 2 Initial Attack Wildfire Crew's 2012 season.


direct link to video

Grangeville Smokejumpers

I continue with smokejumpers by embedding a video showing the Grangeville Smokejumpers. Enjoy!

direct link to video

Smokejumpers - McCall

I continue embedding videos about various wildland firefighting crews. Today and again this Wednesday (January 7), I will be embedding videos about smokejumpers. Today, you will watch a video from the  McCall Smokejumpers. You will  learn what goes into being a smokejumper and what they do, thanks to some great footage of the McCall Smokejumpers 2012 season. The McCall Smokejumpers have been around since 1943.


direct link to video

More wildland firefighting footage

Continuing where I left off before the holidays, here is some nice footage showing the Sho-Pai Fire Season from the Shoshone Paitute Tribes.



direct link to video

Take-off and Landing a DC-3

I wanted to find a nice airplane video to share with you on this New Years Eve, so I spent a couple of hours this morning looking at various videos until I came upon this video from AVweb that I embed here. You will see John Sessions of the Historic Flight Foundations getting some advice from Don Gryder in his then newly renovated DC-3.

Enjoy.

For those who will be out and about on this New Year Eve, safe travels. Happy New Year everyone!


direct link to video

The Shepard (Frederick Forsyth) read by Alan Maitland

One of my favorite aviation stories is Frederick Forsyth's The Shepard as read by Alan Maitland. Alan was a radio broadcaster with CBC who read Forsyth's The Shepard on many of his Christmas Eve Broadcasts. A friend of mine first told me about The Shepard five years ago, and sharing this video with you has become a tradition. This is the fifth year that I have embedded this video here. Happy Holidays everyone, safe travels for those of you who are traveling.



direct link to video

Happy and safe holidays everyone!!

Malheur (Heli-) Rappel Crew

It has been awhile since I wrote about or shared videos about heli-rappeling. According to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group's Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology (scroll down to "rappelling"), (heli-)rappelling is the

Technique of landing specifically trained and certified firefighters from hovering helicopters; involves sliding down ropes with the aid of friction-producing devices.  

In the video that I embed below from Feener Productions, you will see the Malheur Rappel Crew in action.


direct link to video

Chuchupate Helitack

Continuing with sharing wildland firefighting crew videos, here is another helitack crew video, this one is from the Chuchupate H-530 Helitack Crew (USFS-Los Padres National Forest) summarizing thier 2013 season. I enjoyed the footage of their helo, cockpit shots as well as external shots. There is also some footage of tankers and helos dropping as well footage of the Chuchupate Crew working fires. Allow just over 18 minutes to watch the video. 

direct link to video on youtube

Mesa Verde Helitack (2013 season)

Continuing with sharing videos from wildland firefighting crews, here is a nice video summarizing the Mesa Verde Helitack crew's 2013 season. You will see some nice helo footage as well as footage of tankers and helos dropping to support the crews on the ground.


direct link to video on youtube

About being a Geronimo Hot Shot

As you may have figured out, I've been sharing videos showing various wildland firefighting crews in action. Today, listen to the Geronimo Hotshots talk about what they do. They are a Native American Crew.


direct link to video

Adious (original) T-910, gone but not forgotten (2 of 2)

I first learned about you from a friend in May 2009 when I first started writing about aerial wildland firefighting, and I first wrote about you on May 16, 2009. Modified by 10 Tanker Air Carrier for firefighting, you carry 11,600 gallons of retardant — four times more retardant than most other tankers flying today. You can put down a line of retardant one mile long (see the 10Tanker's “the plane” page for more information about DC-10 tankers. By the time I first learned about you, you had been flying fires since 2006. 

I wanted to be able to share about the number of fires that your flew, so I wrote 10 Tanker the other day, asking for some of your statistics, and Rck Hatton, President and CEO of 10 Tanker Air Carrier responded providing some statistics for T-910 and their plans for the future:

In nine fire seasons this aircraft was flown 761 missions on 156 fires. This required 805 flight hours, and dispensed 8,827,600 U.S. Gals. of suppressant. This would have taken more than four times this amount of flying by any other aircraft type available.

While the aircraft is being retired, it is being replaced with a newer DC-10 which will carry the “910” number. We at 10 Tanker Air Carrier are very proud of the fire-fighting capability that this aircraft and her sister ships 911 and 912 have provided the nation thus far. We are looking forward to contracting and building a fleet of up to eight DC-10s to continue affording the U.S. and other countries this innovative product in more locations (Rick Hatton).

Wow, your numbers show how much of a difference you made, 761 missions on 156 fires. Over 8,800,000 gallons of retardant, that is a lot of retardant. 

I remember the first videos that I saw in 2009 of you dropping on a fire and being impressed by the long line of retardant that you lay down and thinking that you can do a lot of good on a fire. Over the years, I have seen you and your sisters numerous times either on videos and perhaps once or twice on a live stream feed of aircraft working fires. I never tired of seeing you or your sisters dropping on a fire and the friends who have watched you from the ground while you were over a fire tell me how special it was to see you. My respect and love for you has only grown over the subsequent years.

In the summer of 2011 the US Forest Service terminated its contract with Aero Union resulting in the loss of their P-3 Orions from the airtanker fleet, (here for more information), I wondered what would happen. It was August and there were a lot of weeks left in the fire season. Then I remembered that you were there fighting fires, and I felt better. You and your sister (T-911) made a big difference as did our friends from Canada and the MAFFs. After that I became more aware of your presence over wildfires and everywhere you went, you were loved. You made a difference, a big difference. In the months and years since then, you and your sisters continued to make a difference, and you are loved.

But you are special, you were the first. And I will always love you for that. You lived to be retired. I know that there will be another DC-10 T-910, but she won’t be you. You can not be replaced. I will miss you. My you fly in favorable tail winds . . .

T-910 dropping on Goff Fire (2012)

direct link to video

T-910 dropping on Zaca Fire (2007)

direct link to video

T-910 over the Humboldt Fire (2008?)

direct link to video

2014 Fire Season - Jackson Hotshots

No, I haven't forgotten that I promised the write my reflections on the retirement of DC-10 T-910. To that end, I spent some time this afternoon writing a draft of the article that I want to post, but it needs a little more work before I share the article. So, I will be posting my reflections tomorrow.

In the meantime, I want to share another video from highlighting the 2014 fire season of a hotshot crew. Here is a video about the Jackson Hotshots.


direct link to video

Adios (original) T-910 (1 of 2)

I was in San Diego California four weeks ago when I first learned that 10 Tanker retired T-910 after reading Bill Gabbert's article of November 14. She got a great send off and tribute when she took off for the last time from Castle Airport, her base since 2013.

I thought that you might enjoy reading some of the comments from 10 Tanker Air Carrier's Facebook Page after she took her final flight, go here for a nice photo of her last take off along with some comments and photos and a video shared by many who love her. Please take the time to scroll through the comments, check out the photos and the video and shed a tear or two for a maginficant airplane.

I'll be posting an article on December 13 where I will share some reflections of my own on T-910. But in the mean time, I want to share a video with you.

direct link to video from AOPA Live on DC-10 Tankers

Mad River Hotshots

I love watching videos shot by groundpounders. Here is a nice video shot by the Mad River Hotshots summarizing their 2014 season. Thanks Mad River Hotshots for all you did to keep us safe! You'll some footage of tankers and helos. Remember tankers and helos do what they do to support the crews on the ground.

Enjoy! Allow just under 24 minutes to watch the video.


direct link to video on youtube

Southern California rains: update on 12/5/14

I believe that this will be the final update that I will be making on the rains that California experienced this week (December 2 through 4). I have the Facebook Page for the San Diego office of the US National Weather Service bookmarked. When I went there this morning, I saw a nice graphic that they had posted mapping rainfall totals (3-day observed rainfall ending 12/4/14 at 5 PMPST) for portions of Southern California (go here to see the rainfall graphic). Here are some of these rainfall totals:

San Diego: 2.53 inches
Ramona: 1.3 inches
Riverside: 2.46 inches
Los Angeles: 1.32 inches
Chino: 2.82 inches
Palomar Mountain: 3.55 inches

I was also curious about mudslides. I found this report from MyFoxLA (with video) on December 4th about mud slide conditions in the LA area: An area of the Pacific Coast Highway north of Malibu (Ventura County) reopened on Thursday, 40 people in Riverside County were rescued after being stranded by flash flooding and seven homes on Gilman Springs Rd in San Jacinto CA (north of Hemet) were evacuated due to the risk of another mud slide.

Here is a report from early in the day on December 4 from MSN on the storms effect on the State of California.

Finally I close with two articles from the LA Times:

• How much rain to end the drought in CA?
• A study saying that the current drought in CA is the worst in 1,200 years

Rain in Southern California, a double edged sword?

It started to rain in Southern California on the night of December 1st. Any rain in drought stricken Southern California is a good thing.  But with the benefits of the rain to a very dry area comes the down side. The other edge of the sword. With these rain storms comes mud slides, and areas that are especially at risk include the hillsides of areas recently burned by wildfires. Denuded of trees because of a fire, the hills become unstable in the rain resulting in mud flows. The US National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard spoke of this risk in a weather story posted on their Facebook page on December 3, 2014:

“There will be some instability across portions of Los Angeles County later this afternoon and evening into the overnight hours. A flash flood watch remains in effect for the Los Angeles County burn areas through early Thursday morning. Although showers will be mostly moderate to locally heavy at times. With the possibility of local higher hourly rainfall rates and given the expected rainfall amounts in the foothills and mountains, there will be the potential for flash flooding in and around the recent burn areas is a concern through early Thursday morning. Residents close to the recent burn areas (including the Springs, Colby, Powerhouse and Williams burn areas) should be prepared for mud and debris flows.”

Some of you may recall:

The Powerhouse Fire that burned 30,274 acres in the Angeles National Forest in June of 2013.

The Springs Fire that burned 24,251 acres in May of 2013 in Ventura County.

Colby Fire that burned 1,952 acres in the Angeles National Forest in January of 2014.

In Ventura County, residents in areas throated by mud slides were evacuated, see this story from KPBS (12/2/14)

According to this report from CBS News on December 2nd evacuations were planned in Silverado in Orange County because of expected mud slides and a weak rain system on November 30th caused a mud slide that blocked a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu.

I found this story from CBS Los Angeles (12/3/14) about the effects of the 2-day rainfall.

Moving further south, here is a report on the rain storm from CBS8 in San Diego.

Reflections: Drought affecting Southern CA (including Mt. Wilson)

I was in southern California for the week of November 17th when I began my series on Mt. Wilson. As fate would have it, there were about 48 hours of Red Flag Warnings for areas east of where I was staying north of San Diego. If memory serves, the Red Flag Warnings included the Angeles National Forest where Mt. Wilson is located.

Before going to southern California I was aware of the severe drought that according to my my meteorologist friends in souther California has been ongoing for three years. As fate would have it, there is a rain storm expected this week in Southern California, and several of these storms will be needed to alleviate the drought in Southern California. I wonder what will happen if there is another year of extreme to exceptional drought?

As I write this, Southern California ranges from severe to exceptional drought depending on the exact location. I believe but am not certain that Mt. Wilson lies in an area that is in an exceptional drought (the most severe drought category). For information on the current status of droughts in the U.S. go to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

As you can guess while I was in San Diego County, I was very much aware of the drought and the fire danger. I did my best to use as little water as possible, but admit that some of my bad and wasteful water habits were a little hard to dispel. But I got better as the week wore on. I thought of my friends at the Mt. Wilson Observatory, wondering how they were making out. I suspect that everyone in southern California is in the same boat, more or less, as my friends at the Mount Wilson Observatory — too little water and serious water conservation efforts are under way.

I was and am scared for all of Southern California and all the other dry wildfire prone areas out west. I think that I am more scared now that I recently spent a week in Southern California. Whether or not there are active Red Flag Warnings, it won’t take that much for a wildfire to start that could, depending on winds and other factors, threaten Mount Wilson Observatory, Palomar Observatory and other residences, schools, research centers and businesses in Southern California. I also know that CAL FIRE and their sister wildland firefighting agencies (on the ground and in the air) are good at what they do. Stay safe everyone.

I am hoping for a wet winter in drought affected areas out west.

Will be back later today

I'll be back later today with my regular Monday post. I hope that everyone in the U.S. and elsewhere who celebrated Thanksgiving had a nice holiday and had safe travels. I myself had a nice quiet holiday, although I picked up a cold which put a bit of a damper on things.