Fire Danger and Fire Weather Records

The National Weather Service (formerly Weather Bureau) and Forest Service developed a program to track meteorological conditions conducive to forest fires, resulting in the ability to forecast and issue fire warnings and watches in national forests around the country. The primary variables captured included wet- and dry-bulb temperature along with wind direction and speed. These along with other basic meteorological observations enabled rangers to predict the likelihood of fires and establish either a Burning or Spread Index to track when and where forest fires were likely to occur. The archive no longer receives these analog observational forms.