Weather Sources for Fire
Open Range Management uses a variety of sources for fire weather and data. Some are used for planning and others are used for real-time weather conditions.
NOAA’s Hourly Weather Graph
This is the website we use to plan for prescribed fires/controlled burns. It’s also useful for hourly conditions for wildfire risk and measuring precipitation timing and amounts. We bookmark frequently used locations in browsers on our mobile device. See instructions below:
Go to: https://www.noaa.gov/
Type in your location under “Find Your Local Weather” > Click Go
Click “See Full Local Forecast”
Scroll all the way down and under “Additional Forecasts and Information” click “Hourly Weather Forecast”
Bookmark it to your phone and computer
It will take a few minutes to read the graph, but you’ll be a pro in no time, NOAA is the source of the information where all weather data comes from.
Mesonet App (if you are in the state of Oklahoma)
We use the Mesonet App for real-time humidity, wind direction, wind speed, and for trends across the state to see how fronts coming in, etc. You can also find hot spots or active fires under the infrared maps
Download Apps to your phone: For Apple For Android
We use OK-FIRE for detailed fire planning information and for writing burn plans
You can find fire maps on the Mesonet App, but we prefer to get OK-FIRE information from a desktop