- Conduct Wildfire Simulations
- Optimize Weather Stations
- Weather Station Application
- Open Source Materials
- Pilot Upper-Air Profiler
Dr. Janice Coen presents a look at how weather conditions, at multiple scales from seasonal to microscale, combine to produce some of California’s most destructive wildfire events. The webinar was recorded on August 11, 2021.
Both historically and in the present, California has been one of the world’s hotspots for extreme wildfire. The state’s Mediterranean climate—characterized by wet winters and hot, dry summers—combines with its complex topography and strong wind events to create rapidly spreading fires. Of particular concern today are destructive wildfires sparked when high winds topple trees and branches onto utility lines.
As part of the Pyregence project, the Extreme Weather Team has analyzed fire activity in recent decades and applied machine learning techniques to identify the extreme weather types (XWTs) that have been associated with rapid fire growth.
Coupled weather–wildland fire behavior simulations of fire events have allowed us understand:
Simulations of fine-scale airflow in wind-related fire ignition and spread offer new insight into the mechanics, location, and predictability of under-recognized microscale wind extremes and fire-induced winds that can elevate maximum speeds well beyond those anticipated in electrical grid design.