WindNinja integrated into NWS spot weather forecasts

The NOAA Fire Weather Testbed facilitated integration of the Forest Service’s WindNinja model into the National Weather Service's spot weather forecasting system. This allows forecasters the new capability to run and visualize WindNinja in operational viewers for automated spot weather forecasts. 

WindNinja is a diagnostic tool that downscales wind forecasts from operational weather prediction models (3+ kilometers) to fine scales (100-300 meters). By better simulating winds in complex terrain where vegetation and thermal heating play important roles, WindNinja enhances the capabilities National Weather Service forecasters to provide spot forecasts to support tactical decision making on incidents such as wildfires and chemical spills.

This project highlights a unique partnership between the Forest Service Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory and the NOAA Fire Weather Testbed and the critical research-to-operations pipeline required to get research-based tools into the hands of decision makers for improved tactical and strategic decision making.

Photo Credit

NOAA Photo by J. Drucker

250 m WindNinja output in the Colorado Rockies visualized in the Dynamic Ensemble-based Scenarios for Incident Decision Support (DESI).