Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Red Flag Warning This Afternoon


When I went to the NWS webpage this morning I saw that a large part of southeast Arizona is under a Red Flag Warning (above) because of conditions favorable for rapid spread of wildfires. The grid point forecast for the airport (TUS) also highlights "Red Flag Warning", as does the metro zone forecast below. However, when I read the actual text of the warning, I found that we are not under this warning here in the metro area, regardless of what all the graphics indicate. The Red Flag Warning is actually for areas east of a Safford - Douglas line, which is a small part of the area shown in red above, and not even close to the metro zone shown below. More than a bit confusing if a user just takes a quick look at the graphic products.

Regardless, it is quite early in the season for the wildfire threat to be starting - it's mostly due to the very wet summer monsoon period last year supporting enhanced growth of grasses. This has been followed by very warm and dry conditions, especially since December 1st.


Note that if a savvy user knows to dig deeper (under "Detailed Hazards" tab) within the NWS webpage, there is a graphic in there that shows the actual area affected by the Red Flag Warning, as per below.


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