1. CIFFC Telecon: 1-877-471-8229 #3971134 Adobe Connect: http://ciffc
Canadian Fire Weather Situation Presented to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) May 24, 2017
Richard Carr
Canadian Forest Service
Wildland Fire Information Systems Group, Northern Forestry Centre
Use the connection information at the top to access CIFFC’s Adobe Connect account, and call in using the telephone number

2. Current conditions Current conditions
14H x 7.5W
9H x 15W

3. NIFC Large Fire Map Level: 2
Level: 2
Previous afternoon’s CWFIS active fire layer and satellite image from Environment Canada (North American IR & topography)
4Hx13.1W

4. CWFIS Hotspots (Interactive Map)
Previous afternoon’s CWFIS active fire layer and satellite image from Environment Canada (North American IR & topography)
Crop: L&T then H&Wto fit, H 11.6W
then 14Hx15.9W

5. North American IR Composite
Current morning EC satellite image (IR and topography)
14H x 18W

6. CaPA
Colored boxes depict current areas of interest.
14H x 19.3W

7. 250/500 hPa Analysis (12 UTC)
250 hPa analysis shows jet stream features (or lack thereof)
Be sure to send the map to the back of the hierarchy so the Canada outline shows, then adjust the map position to fit the outline.
Point out major troughs and ridges and areas without significant features. The latter are often prone to fire if unchanged over a period of a few days or more.
14H x 19W

8. Surface Analysis (12 UTC)
250 hPa analysis shows jet stream features (or lack thereof)
Be sure to send the map to the back of the hierarchy so the Canada outline shows, then adjust the map position to fit the outline.
Point out major troughs and ridges and areas without significant features. The latter are often prone to fire if unchanged over a period of a few days or more.
14H x 19W

9. Forecast conditions Forecast conditions
14H x 7.5W
9H x 15W

10. Temperature http://weather.unisys.com/surface/sfc_con_temp_na.gif
North American temperature map from weather.unisys.com from the previous afternoon (in degrees F)
CWFIS forecast temperature maps for Saturday and next Tuesday (in degrees C)
Unisys: 14H x 17.5W
CWFIS: 7.5H x 8.7W
6H x 6.9W

11. CWFIS Fire Weather Index
7.5H x 8.7W

12. Lightning (Thurs pm) Add lightning forecasts
Maps generated by Environment Canada –
Meteorological Service of Canada
Add lightning forecasts
Frequency: flashes/3 hr
Lightning area time coverage index
Short-term lightning forecast maps from Bill Burrows at EC-MSC’s Alberta/Arctic weather centre in Edmonton
These are uploaded to ftp://ftp.nofc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/uploads daily at about 11:00 am MDT, so we miss the morning
update when doing the CIFFC briefing
Normally use the 42 or 45 hour forecast, valid late afternoon the next day (which is today when doing the CIFFC briefing
as explained above)
LCHA (lightning area time coverage index per 3-hour period) populates a cell if neighboring cells in a 3x3 grid are expected to have lightning – probability from .005 to 1.00
LFLS (lightning flash frequency per 3-hour period) Orange indicates very frequent flashes; blue infrequent flashes
7.5H x 12.5W

13. NAM/GFS 500 hPa 06Z
Surface NWP maps from NCEP’s NAM model run
Highlight ridges and troughs and areas without significant upper air features. The latter are often prone to fire if unchanged over a period of a few days or more. Indicate areas where lightning/heat/dryness/wind may cause problems, and where significant rain is expected.
t=66h Z
Fri May 26 pm
each 9H x 12W

14. NAM/GFS
Surface NWP maps from NCEP’s NAM model run
Highlight ridges and troughs and areas without significant upper air features. The latter are often prone to fire if unchanged over a period of a few days or more. Indicate areas where lightning/heat/dryness/wind may cause problems, and where significant rain is expected.
t=114h Z
Sun May 28 pm
each 9H x 12W

15. NAM/GFS
Surface NWP maps from NCEP’s NAM model run
Highlight ridges and troughs and areas without significant upper air features. The latter are often prone to fire if unchanged over a period of a few days or more. Indicate areas where lightning/heat/dryness/wind may cause problems, and where significant rain is expected.
t=162h Z
Tue May 30 pm
each 9H x 12W

16. Probability of 10 mm precipitation in next 7 days
Circles indicate forecast and/or historical locations of pressure centers.
Precipitation threshold may be lower (e.g. 5mm) in dry periods.

17. Ensemble 7d (t=168h Tues pm)
570 dam
Spaghetti plot of the 558 or 570 decameter (dam) contour from EC-MSC’s ensemble products.
Forecast for 156 or 168 hours (next Tuesday morning or afternoon)
Tangled lines indicate uncertainty between ensemble elements, and uncertainty in forecast conditions
Tightly-bound lines indicate a high degree of certainty of contour line placement and forecast conditions
14H x 19.3W

18. CIFFC SitRep http://www.ciffc.ca/firewire/current.php
Summary of the next week’s national fire weather expectations:
West BC/YT/NT/AB Drying and warming trend as weekend approaches
Central SK/MB/NU/ON Central SK/MB/ rain
South SK/MB/Northern ON getting some SH/TRW but likely not continuous
East QC/Atl
Places to watch: Spotty fire activity continues especially along 60N; south MB -- west ON
View the latest CIFFC sitrep – this will likely be yesterday’s
Summarize the expected fire weather conditions in the regions of the country indicated.
Use red font for regions of intense activity
Use orange font for regions of moderate activity
Use green font for regions of low activity
mH x nW

19. Please suggest items you would find useful
Thank you!
Please suggest items you would find useful
Richard Carr