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NWS Twin Cities Home Page » Fire Weather Forecasts » NWS Spot Instructions

Overview

NWS Spot is an internet-based interactive program available to all State and Federal users who need spot weather forecasts for prescribed burns and wildfires. It is the standard procedure for requesting and receiving test spot forecasts from the National Weather Service (NWS). Telephone requests for information will also continue to be provided.

Access

To access the NWS Spot program on the NWS Twin Cities web page, first click on the "Fire Weather" page located on the left hand navigation bar under the "Forecasts" section.  (Each NWS office has ready access to the NWS Spot program through their Fire Weather Page).

Once located on the Twin Cities Fire Weather page, click on the "Spot Forecast Request" link to access the NWS Spot Program.

The main page for the NWS Spot Program serving the Twin Cities NWS office appears as shown below in figure 1:

Figure 1- The Spot Monitor page

This page automatically updates every minute, so as new spot forecasts are requested or their status changes, you immediately see the changes on this page. We call this the Spot Monitor page.

The Spot Monitor page illustrates a map of the NWS Twin Cities fire weather area of responsibility. A small box will appear on the map indicating locations of previous spot forecast requests. The box is color coded green to indicate if the spot forecast is pending, which means a spot request has been submitted, and the NWS Twin Cities is working on the forecast. A purple box indicates that the NWS has sent a question with respect to a spot forecast request. A red box on the map means the spot forecast has been completed by the NWS Twin Cities and you can either click on the red box or in the Name/Ignition Time/Status box to see the forecast. A link at the top of the Spot Monitor page will take you back to the NWS Twin Cities Fire Weather page.

The Spot Monitor page also clearly indicates the current date with arrow keys allowing you to step back or forward to a particular date.  A calendar is also available, which will allow you to see how many spot forecasts were issued on a certain date. You can also move ahead or back on the calendar as well as clicking on a particular date to view information from that day.

Click on the "Submit a new Spot Request" link to create a new request for a Spot forecast and to input the details of your prescribed burn or wildfire for the NWS forecaster. Make sure you have read the latest NWS narrative forecast and have a recent observation from the fire site.

You will now be at the NWS Twin Cities Spot Forecast Request page. The page illustrated below in figure 2 appears into which you would enter the information for your spot burn. The items in red are required.

Figure 2 - The main data entry page. The red items are required.

Required Fields

Project Name - If your fire has a name, go ahead and put it in. Otherwise, use a combination of the nearest city or town and the distance from that location. For example, if the burn site is approximately 5 miles west of Lastrup in Morrison county. Then the fire name would be 5W Lastrup.

Select whether the type of project is a wildfire or prescribed burn. If it is a prescribed burn, please enter the Ignition Time (using a 24 hour clock) and Date.

Requesting Agency - The requesting agency name and telephone number. Fax number and contact person are optional, but we consider those important if we have any questions or a breakdown in dissemination capabilities.

Reason for Spot Forecast - The requester of a spot forecast must provide the "REASON FOR THE SPOT FORECAST". The NWS will not provide spot forecasts to private citizens or commercial entities not acting as an agent of a government agency.

Spot forecasts for WILDFIRES will be provided to any federal, state, tribal, or local official who represents that the spot forecast is required to support a wildfire.

Spot forecasts for non-wildfire purposes will be provided for any of the following criteria:

1. Under the Interagency Agreement for Meteorological Services (USFS, BLM, NPS, USFWS, BIA).

2. State, tribal or local fire agency working in coordination with a federal participant in the Interagency Agreement for Meteorological Services.

3. Essential to public safety, e.g. due to the proximity of population centers or critical
   infrastructure.

Location - Enter the Latitude and Longitude of the fire location. You can either specify degrees, i.e. 45.2486 or degrees/minutes/seconds i.e. 45 24 34 or 45.24N

The NWS prefers to receive location information in latitude and longitude coordinates because it is easier to locate the burn location more precisely on our computer equipment. However, you may also use a legal description of Township, Range and Section (TRS) format. If you enter the location in TRS format, follow this example: T39N R7E SEC8. The NWS Spot program will convert the TRS description to latitude/longitude when it is processing the request.

Proper location data will give us detailed map information on the location of the fire and the terrain in the area.

Elevation - The top and bottom elevations of the fire are required. If the burn or fire is on flat ground, you can enter a value in only one of the boxes, preferably the one labeled Top.

Drainage references the river drainage basin the fire is in. This field is optional, but the information would be helpful if known.

Aspect - The direction the slope (if any) faces. Use direction references such as N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW. If the fire or burn is in flat terrain, you can type in "FLAT".

Enter the size or acreage of the spot burn if known, however it is not a required field.

Observation - Although not shown in red, a recent observation should be provided. For each observation, we need to know its relation to the site of the prescribed burn or wildfire, the elevation in feet, and the time. The wind information can be specified as N12 gust 25 mph or West at 10 mph. Please specify the height off the ground at which your wind measurement was taken, i.e. eye level or 20 foot winds. The forecast will be for 20 foot winds.

The temperature and wet bulb values in degrees F should be entered, and the RH (in percent) and the Dew point (F) if known. Finally, any remarks about clouds, weather or other important information would be helpful.

Primary Forecast Elements - You may request data for Today, Tonight and Tomorrow by checking the boxes under "Primary Forecast Elements" in the lower left corner of the Spot Forecast Request page illustrated in figure 2 above. The NWS asks that you request no more than you actually need at the time to perform your work that day, since the more information you request, the longer it will take to prepare the forecast. You can always go back later in the day and update your request. The existing routine narrative forecast will likely have the best forecast for later periods. If changes are needed or appear relevant, the forecast may include the data for Tonight and Tomorrow.

Remarks - If a meteorological parameter is not listed such as the Haines Index, and you would like a forecast of that information, enter the request in the Remarks section. You can also ask questions or state any concerns or problems.

Spot burn forecasts should be done through a dispatch center or a staffed office so that the NWS forecaster has a contact point. This will permit the forecaster to send the spot forecast efficiently through the internet, rather than spending time on the telephone reading the details. Plus, it will make coordination more effective. Field users may at times need to use cell phones from the fire site, but the NWS asks that contact be attempted first through the dispatch or staffed office location.

Action - You have three options. When your request for a forecast is complete, click on the "Submit Request" button at the bottom of the page. Various checks are performed on the data you have entered. If an error or problem is found, you will be taken to a page that describes the problems. You would then click on "Go Back and Fix" which would take you back to the Spot Request Forecast page. Correct any errors or problems, and then click on the Submit Request button once again.

The "Cancel Request" will end your request. The "Clear Form" button will erase all your entries, enabling you to start over.

The spot request will alarm at the NWS - Twin Cities fire weather forecaster's work station, but to ensure we received the request, please call us to ensure that the request was received. Faxing requests and forecasts will be done only in very rare circumstances such as during internet or computer outages.

Once your request is submitted, the NWS Spot program will respond with a forecast page similar to the test page shown in figure 3 below:

Figure 3 - Request Feedback page

The forecast page will contain a series of three topographic maps, each at a different magnification level as well as all the data that you submitted. Take time to look at the map and verify the location of the spot burn. Once completed by the NWS Twin Cities Fire Weather Forecaster, this page will display the forecasted elements you requested.

A feedback box will appear at the bottom of the page, enabling the user to provide feedback with respect to how the forecast worked out at a later date. The user can also click on the "Back to Spot List" to return to the Spot Monitor page.

The user can also click on "Copy Info to New Spot Request". This is helpful for spot burns that last over several days. Rather than having to reenter the data in the form to get a new forecast, the user can view the previous spot request and then copy all the location parameters to a new request using this link. This will save you some time when filling out the request form.

Once the forecast has been initially sent, the word "PENDING" will appear in the status block on the request page. The location of your fire will be designated by a small green square as illustrated in figure 4 below. The ignition time and the name of the fire will also be shown. All named fires for which forecasts have been requested will appear in the status list.

Figure 4 - Main page with a pending request for a spot burn forecast.

When the NWS - Twin Cities fire weather forecaster has completed the spot forecast and sent it back, the word "COMPLETE" will appear in the status window of the main entry page, and a small red square will appear on the map illustrating the location.

On the main entry page, the arrow icons on either side of the date will take you to the next or previous day.

You can look at the entire month by clicking on the work "CALENDAR" underneath the current date on the main page. This will take you to the calendar page as illustrated in figure 5 below:

Figure 5 - calendar page

You can send a preliminary request to the NWS Twin Cities fire weather forecaster for a planned fire on a day other than the current day. Click on the date you plan to burn, and you can go through the process of entering all required data. You will not receive a tailored spot forecast. All this does is alert the forecaster of upcoming projects. You will still need to request the spot and supply an observation from the burn site on the day of the burn in order to receive a spot forecast.

Once a forecast is completed and made available to you, the page will not update anymore. Thus, if the NWS Twin Cites Fire Weather forecaster needs to update the forecast, we will call to inform you of the upcoming change.

If we have questions about your request, we may send you back a question about it. If this happens, the Status Box on the Spot Monitor page will show the word QUESTION in purple, and the box on the map will turn purple. Click on this and you will see a big red box in the forecast page with our question. Answer the question, the resubmit the request once again. The purple box will return to green and the work QUESTION will change back to PENDING. To expedite the process, we may call you at the listed contact telephone number.

You are reminded that the existing fire weather narrative forecast is the source document for your planning until the morning of the ignition of a prescribed burn or until a wildfire is reported.

Summary Points

• NWS Spot is the national standard procedure for requesting spot forecasts from the National Weather Service

• Read the most recent Fire Weather Narrative Forecast before you send a request or before you call the NWS

• Submit requests through a dispatch center or other office that will have people on duty with whom the NWS can coordinate.

• Always submit a recent observation with your request. Spot forecasts will not be provided without a recent observation from the vicinity of the burn site.

• Request only the items needed.

• Call the NWS Twin Cities after you submit a request to make sure they have received it.

• Expect a 20 to 30 minute delay between your spot forecast request and the subsequent forecast reply.

• The Twin Cities/Chanhassen National Weather Service office can only process requests within our 51 county area of forecast responsibility.

If you have any problems with the NWS Twin Cities Spot program, please call our office, or Byron Paulson, our Fire Weather Program Leader at 952/361-6670 x 727. You can also email Byron directly at byron.paulson@noaa.gov.