Columbia Weather Systems

After Hurricane Irma, the Boca Raton Fire Department turned to CWS for accurate weather data in preparation for future storms. With a network of Orion™ Weather Stations utilizing the CWS Cloud Weather Server, the Boca Emergency Operations Center is now able to determine whether it is safe to send out First Responders in risky weather conditions. Thanks WPTV for the highlight!

Portland area emergency managers toured an Air National Guard mobile emergency operations center (MEOC) outfitted with an Orion Weather Station at a recent meeting. The trailer can become a command-and-control hub and dispatch to any state for on-scene communications and disaster response. Close-up of the Vehicle-Mount Orion Inside the MEOC (See Weather Display on left wall) Gary was in attendance and says the MEOC “includes all kinds of communications equipment, many computers, and an Orion Weather Station connected to the  Weather Display  inside. It is a pretty impressive piece of equipment.”

As we saw this past summer, hot, dry, and windy weather conditions are factors that directly affect fire risk and behavior.  Having the ability to compile real-time, location-specific met data is imperative for safe and effective firefighting. Weather monitoring at an incident assists in multiple areas such as risk management, prediction, safety, plume modeling, and reporting. Over the coming weeks, we will highlight weather monitoring in these five areas of emergency response. Make sure to look out for our first post!

“Being aware of the weather conditions before, during, and after an incident is imperative,” quotes columnist Chuck Sallade in Firefighter Nation. Weather information is critical for: 1. Risk Management – Identify and assess hazardous weather conditions for PPE and resource management from safe approach through potential evacuation 2. Helping predict fire behavior 3. Safe operation of equipment – firefighting and rescue 4. Incident reporting and recording the weather for Fire Cause Determination 5. Plume modeling for smoke and HazMat Vehicle-mounted weather stations are quick to set up and within minutes can be automatically recording data for incident decision-making and reporting, as well as, transmitting data to programs such as CAMEO/ALOHA for plume modeling. “We are now able to receive ‘Live’ accurate weather data to use with the ALOHA Air Plume modeling program,” says Lieutenant Pearson of Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue. “Having ‘Live’ weather data is vital to our oper...