5 Reasons Incident Command Needs a Weather Station #1: RISK MANAGEMENT

Weather data is a key component of risk assessment and management from the planning/preparation stages, PPE and resource management, to decisions regarding public safety such as shelter-in-place or evacuate. Utilize weather data in these phases:

• Evaluate historic weather conditions for planning/preparation
• Assess current response conditions (normal and/or severe weather) for transport and approach
• Monitor for changing meteorological conditions throughout an incident

An example cited by Battalion Chief Henry Costo in Fire Rescue Magazine: “No PPE risk assessment would be complete without adequate consideration of a jurisdiction’s prevailing climate and weather conditions, as well as the potential for extremes of temperature, humidity, wind, rain, storms, flooding, snow accumulations, ice, etc. Keep in mind that many jurisdictions experience significant weather variations even within their own boundaries—such as the beaches vs. inland areas of San Diego and Los Angeles counties.” 

Weather stations from Columbia Weather Systems are a force multiplier -- offering automated met data collection and archiving in addition to monitoring current conditions. Whether from a fixed-base system at the Fire Station or Dispatch Center, a vehicle-mount weather station on the Incident Command Vehicle, or a portable weather station for HazMat, met data can be a key piece of the risk management puzzle.

Add a weather station to your team's risk management strategy. Visit ColumbiaWeather.com to spec the one that's right for your organization.

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