In the Line of Fire

The National Weather Service’s Incident Meteorologists

By Craig Collins

In November and December of 2019 – the height of summer in Australia, with high temperatures and dry conditions fueling more than a hundred wildfires that had already burned millions of acres and destroyed 2,000 homes – the U.S. government sent experts to help Australia in its historic firefight. Among those sent were nine skilled Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) from NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS). These deployable specialists are trained to travel to the front lines of wildfires to provide critical data about the weather so decision makers can map out the safest possible tactics for firefighters.

National Weather Service IMET Brent Wachter positions a Direcway satellite dish in April 2006. Once positioned correctly, the IMET can then download much needed weather data. Smoke from the Ojo Felix Fire burning in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico can be seen in the background.

Weather is one of the most important determinants of how easily a wildfire starts, how dangerous it is, how fast it spreads, and where it goes. Though most Americans aren’t aware that the NWS plays a role in fighting wildfires, IMETs can trace their heritage back more than a century. In 1916, the U.S.

Weather Bureau established a Fire Weather Service and set up a central fire forecast center in Medford, Oregon. Today, around 80 IMETs are stationed at NWS offices throughout the country, and their operations are managed by NWS staff based at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

IMET Carl Cerniglia (NWS Tucson, Arizona) develops spot weather forecasts requested by firefighters for the day in January 2020. He was working alongside meteorologists at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology regional office in Sydney.

IMETs have supported responses to a variety of incidents, including shipwrecks, hurricanes, oil spills, tornadoes, and recovery of debris from the 2003 space shuttle Columbia accident – but they are used primarily in responding to wildfires, and have figured significantly in the nation’s most important firefighting efforts. When lightning strikes sparked 42 fires throughout Yellowstone National Park in 1988, IMETs staffed several remote forecast operations centers in the park to support and help direct the fight. Throughout the 2017-2019 fire seasons, when some of the most destructive wildfires in Western U.S. history burned through California and other states, more than 85 IMETs served on more than 500 deployments.

Typically, it’s the IMETs who live closest to an incident who are called in, though they often require backup from colleagues nationwide. They usually arrive at the scene of a wildfire within 12 to 24 hours of being requested, and are stationed with the incident command team at a base camp at or near the fire. Here they work with their federal and local partners to help interpret how weather may affect the fire’s behavior. IMETs provide briefings and answer questions at planning meetings, and give fire crews weather briefings that describe expected conditions and any potential hazards.

Incident Meteorologist Joel Curtis (second from left) watches the Derby Fire with some local firefighters monitoring the fire in Big Timber, Montana, September 2006.

Forecasting for a wildfire is distinctly different from general weather forecasting, and requires a unique set of knowledge and skills. For one thing, large fires can create their own weather, such as firestorms that produce dry lightning or send embers far from the site. At the scene, IMETs monitor conditions with weather balloon soundings, wireless access to NWS data, and the Bureau of Land Management’s Remote Automated Weather System (RAWS), a tool that provides crucial information such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, and wind speed and direction. At base camps, IMETs are outfitted with the same emergency equipment carried by fire crews: fire-resistant clothes, a portable fire shelter, personal protective equipment, and first aid kits.

IMETs typically begin their careers as NWS meteorologists, but then undertake an intensive training regimen involving several fireweather-specific courses and onsite training experiences. By the time an IMET is certified, they will have completed at least 225 hours of training.

The IMETs who deployed to Australia in late 2019 and 2020 were part of an established tradition of cooperation; the United States and Australia signed an agreement for mutual wildfire assistance in 2006, and have lent each other aid in almost every year since. A total of nine IMETs were ultimately deployed to Australia, in six-week rotations, through March of 2020.

It’s a practice that’s sure to continue, and likely to expand: In the United States, the area burned each year in summertime forest fires is eight times larger than it was in the 1970s. As these hazards increase, it’s likely that the demand for IMET expertise in all-hazards response will continue to grow.