Good Fire Weather Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Extreme fire weather receives substantial attention, yet conditions allowing readily manageable fire, or “good fire weather” remain less studied with no formal definition. We propose a qualitative definition of good fire weather as “the set of atmospheric conditions before, during, and following ignition allowing wildland fire to achieve beneficial outcomes while minimizing hazards from fire and smoke.” We explain beneficial fire outcomes and share examples of the multiscalar challenges in observing and forecasting good fire weather to inform decision making using schematics, example tools, and a case study. Suggestions for ways the weather enterprise can support good fire weather forecasting are provided.