Ticker for July 21, 1998

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
July 21, 1998      July 21, 1998      July 21, 1998      July 21, 1998

Fire Danger

The hot, dry, windy days of this summer have taken their toll on the
state's fire conditions.  The latest Oklahoma Fire Danger Model
Burning Index (BI) map, at

http://agweather.mesonet.org/fire/data.html#gifs

shows extreme fire danger values west of I-35.


The afternoon update of the Oklahoma Fire Danger Model should be available
at or shortly after 4:00 pm today.

A thumbnail description of the Oklahoma Fire Danger Model parameters:

BI - Burning Index:            indication of fireline intensity
IC - Ignition Component:       probability of ignition by a firebrand
SC - Spread Component:         indicates speed of advancement of wildfire
ERC - Energy Release Component: indicates heat released by wildfire

KBDI - Keetch-Byrum Drought Index: gives an estimation of available moisture
in the upper layers of soil


Heat Streak

Today is the 36th consecutive day that at least one Oklahoma Mesonet station
has observed a high temperature of at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit.