Understanding wildfire warnings: How to know when to be alert during fire season

Gusty north winds. Red flag warning. Particularly dangerous situation. Here is what you should know about important fire terms our weather team tracks during fire season.

Gusty north winds. Red flag warning. Particularly dangerous situation. Here is what you should know about important fire terms our weather team tracks during fire season.

REMOTE AREAS. YEAH. WELL NOW WE TELL YOU ABOUT A NEW SYSTEM WE ’VE WORKING ON. R3KC IT WILL HELP HOMEOWNERS ASSESS THEIR DAILY THREAT LEVEL WHEN IT COMES TO FIRES METEOROLOGIST. EILEEN JAVORA SHOWS US HOW IT WORKS. DURING FIRE SEASON. IT IS CRUCIAL TO KNOW THE DS.AY YOU NEED TO BE READY AND ARTLE WHEN THE WEATHER IS PRIME FOR FIRE CONDITIONS GUSTYORTH N WINDS LOW HUMIDITY. YOU MAY BE FAMILIARITH W HEARING US TALK ABOUT RED FLAG WARNINGS, AND THESE ARE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WHEN WEATHER EVENTS WHICH MAY RESTUL IN ACTIVE FIRE BEHAVIOR WILL OCCUR WITHIN 24 HOURS THE TYPE OF WEATHER PATTERNS TTHA CAUSE A DRE FLAG WARNING INCLUDE LOW HUMIDITY STRONG WINDS DRIVE FUELS AND THE POSSIBILITYF O DRY LIGHTNING OR ANY COMBINATION OF THE ABOVE. NOW THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS LAUNCHED A HIGHER LEVEL ALERT CALLED A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION OR PDS. YOU’RE GOING TO SEE IT HIGHLIGHTED ON OUR MAPS IN A MAGENTA COLOR. THE PDS DESIGNATION WILL ONLY BE USED FOR RARE EVENTS WITHIN AN EXISTING RED FLAG WARNING ALREADY IN PLACE TO ISSUE A PDF SUSTAINED WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH ABOV30E AN HOUR HUMIDITY AND SINGLE DIGIT RANGE DURING THE DAYRE A VERY LOW NIGHTTIME HUMIDITY. WE KNOW THESE CRITICAL WEATHER AND DRY CONDITIONSAN C LEAD TO RAPID OR DRAMATIC SPREAD SHOULD THE WILDFIRE START WREHE IT MAY BE UNSTOPPABLE TEAK A SITUATION LIKE THE CAMPFIRE. THAT COULD BE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF CONDITIONS. WHERE FIGHTING BACK THE FIRE BECOMES NEARLY IMPOSSIEBL AND EEFLIN. THE FIRE IS ETH ONLY OPTION. IN FACT TAKE A LOOK AT THE STRONG WORDING IN THE OFFICIAL ACTION STATEMENT DURING A PDS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH EXTREMELY LOW HUMIDITY AND HIGH WDSIN NEW FIRES WILL GROW RAPIDLY OUT OF CONTROL IN SOME CASES PEOPLE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO EVACUATE SAFELY IN TIME SHOULD A FIRE APPROACH. WE KNOW THESE INSTANCES WILLE B RARE BUT WHEN A PDS IS ISSUED. BASICALLY IT’S SAYING BE READY TO GO. WE SHOULD NOTE NOT ALL FIRES HAPPEN DURING RED FLAG WARNINGS. IN FACT THE CALDORND A DIEIX FIRES LAST YEAR DIDN’T START ON FIRE WARNING DAYS ALWAYS BE PREPARED AND HAVE A COURSE OF ACTION DURING FIRE SEASON. AND ONE NEW TOOL THE KCRA WEATHER TEAM WILL BE USING TO KEEP YOU INFORMED AS FIRE CONDITIONS CHANGES I THE FIRE THREAT INDEX. THIS WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE FIRE RISK ON ANY GIVENAY D IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF OUR REGION SO YOU CAN PLAN AHEAD USINGUR O KNOWLEDGE OF FUEL MOISTURE LEVELS, OR HOW DRY THE TREES GRASS AND BSHRU ARE HUMIDITY AND WIND WE CAN ASSESS FIRE DANGER AND WE CAN THEN DETERNEMI THE INDEX OF FIRE CONCERN AND REAT IT FROM LOW TO EXTREME WHIT THE HIGHEST LEVEL LIKELY FOR TSEHO DAYS WITH PDS WARNINGS. BE SHOWINGOU Y THESE ON-AIR AS THE WEATHER WARRANTS AND YOU’LL BE ABLE TO FIND THEM ONLINE AT KCRA.COM UNDER THE WEATHER TAB. AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT FIRE THREAT INDEX IS A IS LEAN JUST MENTIONED THAT SOME OFUR O BIGGEST FIRES START NOT IN RED FLAG WARNING SO YOU HAVE TO BE AWARE OF JUST WHO THE FIRE THREAT IS ON ANY GIVEN DAY WHETHER OR NOT THERE’S A RED FLAG WARNING. WE HAD THE CAMPFIRE STARTED WITHOUT AED R FLAG WARNING. WE HAD THE BIGGEST FIRES LAST YEAR STARTED WITHOUT RED FLAG WARNING. WELL, IT’S GOOD THAT THEY’RE NOW GO

Understanding wildfire warnings: How to know when to be alert during fire season

Gusty north winds. Red flag warning. Particularly dangerous situation. Here is what you should know about important fire terms our weather team tracks during fire season.

When the weather is prime for fire conditions you’ll hear the KCRA 3 weather team talk about gusty north winds, low humidity and red flag warnings. Here is what you should know about these warnings and how we'll communicate them on the news. What is a red flag warning? Red flag warnings are issued by the National Weather Service when the weather may contribute to active fire behavior within 24 hours. The type of weather patterns that can cause a red flag warning include low humidity, strong winds, dry fuels, the possibility of dry lightning strikes, or any combination of the above. What to know about rare PDS alerts and why you should take them seriously The National Weather Service has launched a higher level alert called a Particularly Dangerous Situation or PDS. Here at KCRA 3, when a PDS is issued you’ll see it highlighted in magenta on our maps. The PDS designation will only be used for very rare events, within an existing Red Flag Warning already in place. To issue a PDS, sustained winds are expected to reach above 30 mph and humidity in single-digit range during the day (less than 9%) or very low nighttime humidity (less than 31%). We know these critical weather and dry conditions can lead to rapid or dramatic spread should a wildfire start, where it may be unstoppable. A situation like the Camp Fire is a prime example of when conditions where fighting back the fire becomes nearly impossible and the only option is to flee. Here’s how the National Weather Service describes a PDS: “This a particularly dangerous situation with extremely low humidity and high winds. New fires will grow rapidly out of control. In some cases people may not be able to evacuate safely in time should a fire approach.” When a PDS is issued, we should be ready to go. We should note, though, that not all fires happen during red flag warnings. In fact, the Caldor and Dixie fires last year didn’t start on fire warning days. Always be prepared and have a course of action during fire season.What to know about KCRA 3’s new Fire Threat Index One new tool the KCRA weather team will be using to keep you informed as fire conditions change is the Fire Threat Index. This will give you an idea of the fire risk on any given day in different areas of our region so you can plan ahead. Using our knowledge of fuel moisture levels or how dry the trees, grass and brush are, humidity and wind, we can assess fire danger. We can then determine the index of fire concern and rate it from low to extreme with the highest level likely for those days with PDS warnings. We will be showing you the Fire Weather Index on air as the weather warrants and you will be able to find them online here or under the weather tab on KCRA.com. More Wildfire Resources 2022 California Wildfire Preparedness Guide: What to know and how to stay safe 2022 Northern California wildfire resources: Where to find county evacuation info, maps, alerts and moreThis story was produced as part of the KCRA 3 special "Wildfire Ready."

When the weather is prime for fire conditions you’ll hear the KCRA 3 weather team talk about gusty north winds, low humidity and red flag warnings.

Here is what you should know about these warnings and how we'll communicate them on the news.

What is a red flag warning?

Red flag warnings are issued by the National Weather Service when the weather may contribute to active fire behavior within 24 hours. The type of weather patterns that can cause a red flag warning include low humidity, strong winds, dry fuels, the possibility of dry lightning strikes, or any combination of the above.

What to know about rare PDS alerts and why you should take them seriously

The National Weather Service has launched a higher level alert called a Particularly Dangerous Situation or PDS. Here at KCRA 3, when a PDS is issued you’ll see it highlighted in magenta on our maps. The PDS designation will only be used for very rare events, within an existing Red Flag Warning already in place. To issue a PDS, sustained winds are expected to reach above 30 mph and humidity in single-digit range during the day (less than 9%) or very low nighttime humidity (less than 31%).

We know these critical weather and dry conditions can lead to rapid or dramatic spread should a wildfire start, where it may be unstoppable. A situation like the Camp Fire is a prime example of when conditions where fighting back the fire becomes nearly impossible and the only option is to flee.

Here’s how the National Weather Service describes a PDS: “This a particularly dangerous situation with extremely low humidity and high winds. New fires will grow rapidly out of control. In some cases people may not be able to evacuate safely in time should a fire approach.”

When a PDS is issued, we should be ready to go. We should note, though, that not all fires happen during red flag warnings. In fact, the Caldor and Dixie fires last year didn’t start on fire warning days. Always be prepared and have a course of action during fire season.

What to know about KCRA 3’s new Fire Threat Index

One new tool the KCRA weather team will be using to keep you informed as fire conditions change is the Fire Threat Index. This will give you an idea of the fire risk on any given day in different areas of our region so you can plan ahead. Using our knowledge of fuel moisture levels or how dry the trees, grass and brush are, humidity and wind, we can assess fire danger. We can then determine the index of fire concern and rate it from low to extreme with the highest level likely for those days with PDS warnings.

We will be showing you the Fire Weather Index on air as the weather warrants and you will be able to find them online here or under the weather tab on KCRA.com.

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