ZiaMet Assists in Largest Fire in New Mexico History

The Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak wildfire became the state’s largest fire in recorded history during this summer burning more than half million square miles of land in northern NM. This fire became very difficult to predict and manage due to the ongoing extreme drought and highly varying weather patterns this summer. While forecasters rely heavily on numerical weather models run on supercomputers for predicting weather over the next few days, they trust on the ground weather observations from weather stations for verification. Such was the case this year during the state’s largest wildfire that burned around the JT Harrington Forestry Research Center in Mora. The weather station in Mora provided critical information on the low dew point temperatures, telling them about the extremely dry air and likelihood of extreme wildfire behavior in the Mora Valley. While forecasters use many weather stations, our station in Mora played a role in giving firefighters and planners an edge during these types of wildfires.