The potential for heavy snow at higher elevations in the western U.S. will continue for many spots through the weekend. In the meantime, the eastern half of the continental U.S. will transition to above normal temperatures ahead of a pair of cold fronts next week that will bring readings back to closer to normal as we approach Thanksgiving Day. Read More >
Fire Weather Zone Changes for New York
Overview
Effective March 8, 2023 by 4 pm EST, the NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) in New York will change the fire weather zones within the state. The boundaries of the current fire weather zones in New York will be changed based on common topography, fuels, and weather. Below are graphics depicting the changes to our fire weather zones.
Old Fire Weather Zones
New Fire Weather Zones
Justification
Recently there has been a significant rework of the nationwide system for predicting wildfire danger (NFDRSv4). The NFDRSv4 system has tasked state fire and land management agencies with reassessing and editing Fire Danger Rating Areas (FDRAs), which are geographic zones consisting of similar fuels, topography, and weather conditions. Our current fire weather zones tend to be more county based and do not necessarily consider these important elements that the new FRDAs are based on. Thus aligning our fire weather zones with the new FDRAs would better connect fire danger outputs with our suite of fire weather products (Fire Weather Planning Forecast, Fire Weather Watches, and Red Flag Warnings) to support the needs of our fire weather partners and the public. The changes result in significantly fewer fire weather zones across the state.
Representatives from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) have provided the NWS with their new FDRAs. The new fire weather zones follow these FDRAs, except in a few instances where the FDRAs significantly overlapped two County Warning Areas (CWAs). In these instances, the FDRA boundary was split at the CWA boundary to form two new fire weather zones. The new fire weather zones were approved by representatives from the NYSDEC.
Table 1. WFO Albany’s (ALY) Affected Fire Weather Zones
|
Current Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
New Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
|
Northern Herkimer / NYZ032 Hamilton / NYZ033 Southern Herkimer / NYZ038 Southern Fulton / NYZ039 Montgomery / NYZ040 Northern Saratoga / NYZ041 Northern Warren / NYZ042 Northern Washington / NYZ043 Schoharie / NYZ047 Western Schenectady / NYZ048 Eastern Schenectady / NYZ049 Southern Saratoga / NYZ050 Western Albany / NYZ051 Eastern Albany / NYZ052 Western Rensselaer / NYZ053 Eastern Rensselaer / NYZ054 Western Greene / NYZ058 Eastern Greene / NYZ059 Western Columbia / NYZ060 Eastern Columbia / NYZ061 Western Ulster / NYZ063 Eastern Ulster / NYZ064 Western Dutchess / NYZ065 Eastern Dutchess / NYZ066 Northern Fulton / NYZ082 Southeast Warren / NYZ083 Southern Washington / NYZ084 |
Southern Adirondacks / NYZ206 Upper Hudson Valley / NYZ207 Middle Hudson Valley / NYZ208 Catskills / NYZ209 |
Table 2. WFO ALY’s Products Affected by These Changes
|
Product Name |
WMO Header |
AWIPS ID |
|
Fire Weather Planning Forecast |
FNUS51 KALY |
FWFALY |
|
Fire Weather Watch/Red Flag Warning |
WWUS81 KALY |
RFWALY |
Table 3. WFO Binghamton’s (BGM) Affected Fire Weather Zones
|
Current Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
New Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
|
Northern Oneida / NYZ009 Yates / NYZ015 Seneca / NYZ016 Southern Cayuga / NYZ017 Onondaga / NYZ018 Steuben / NYZ022 Schuyler / NYZ023 Chemung / NYZ024 Tompkins / NYZ025 Madison / NYZ036 Southern Oneida / NYZ037 Cortland / NYZ044 Chenango / NYZ045 Otsego / NYZ046 Tioga / NYZ055 Broome / NYZ056 Delaware / NYZ057 Sullivan / NYZ062 |
Leatherstocking / NYZ210 |
Table 4. WFO BGM’s Products Affected by These Changes
|
Product Name |
WMO Header |
AWIPS ID |
|
Fire Weather Planning Forecast |
FNUS51 KBGM |
FWFBGM |
|
Fire Weather Watch/Red Flag Warning |
WWUS81 KBGM |
RFWBGM |
Table 5. WFO Burlington’s (BTV) Affected Fire Weather Zones
|
Current Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
New Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
|
Northern St. Lawrence / NYZ026 Northern Franklin / NYZ027 Eastern Clinton / NYZ028 Southeastern St. Lawrence / NYZ029 Southern Franklin / NYZ030 Western Clinton / NYZ031 Western Essex / NYZ034 Eastern Essex / NYZ035 Southwestern St. Lawrence / NYZ087 |
St. Lawrence / NYZ202 Northern Adirondacks / NYZ203 Adirondack High Peaks / NYZ204 Champlain Valley (NY) / NYZ205 |
Table 6. WFO BTV’s Products Affected by These Changes
|
Product Name |
WMO Header |
AWIPS ID |
|
Fire Weather Planning Forecast |
FNUS51 KBTV |
FWFBTV |
|
Fire Weather Watch/Red Flag Warning |
WWUS81 KBTV |
RFWBTV |
Table 7. WFO Buffalo’s (BUF) Affected Fire Weather Zones
|
Current Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
New Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
|
Niagara / NYZ001 Orleans / NYZ002 Monroe / NYZ003 Wayne / NYZ004 Northern Cayuga / NYZ005 Oswego / NYZ006 Jefferson / NYZ007 Lewis / NYZ008 Genesee / NYZ011 Wyoming / NYZ012 Livingston / NYZ013 Ontario / NYZ014 Chautauqua / NYZ019 Cattaraugus / NYZ020 Allegany / NYZ021 Southern Erie / NYZ085 |
Southern Tier / NYZ200 Lake Ontario Plains / NYZ201 |
Table 8. WFO BUF’s Products Affected by These Changes
|
Product Name |
WMO Header |
AWIPS ID |
|
Fire Weather Planning Forecast |
FNUS51 KBUF |
FWFBUF |
|
Fire Weather Watch/Red Flag Warning |
WWUS81 KBUF |
RFWBUF |
Table 9. WFO New York City’s (OKX) Affected Fire Weather Zones
|
Current Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
New Fire Weather Zone/UGC |
|
Orange / NYZ067 Putnam / NYZ068 Rockland / NYZ069 Northern Westchester / NYZ070 Southern Westchester / NYZ071 Southern Westchester / NYZ071 New York (Manhattan) / NYZ072 Bronx / NYZ073 Bronx / NYZ073 Richmond (Staten Is.) / NYZ074 Kings (Brooklyn) / NYZ075 Northwest Suffolk / NYZ078 Northeast Suffolk / NYZ079 Southwest Suffolk / NYZ080 Southeast Suffolk / NYZ081 Northern Queens / NYZ176 Northern Nassau / NYZ177 Southern Queens / NYZ178 Southern Nassau / NYZ179 |
Lower Hudson Valley / NYZ211 New York City / NYZ212 Long Island / NYZ213 |
Table 10. WFO OKX’s Products Affected by These Changes
|
Product Name |
WMO Header |
AWIPS ID |
|
Fire Weather Planning Forecast |
FNUS51 KOKX |
FWFOKX |
|
Fire Weather Watch/Red Flag Warning |
WWUS81 KOKX |
RFWOKX |
If you are affected by these changes, take the appropriate actions so your system(s) recognize the new zone Universal Geographic Codes (UGC) and the new zone alignments.
If you have any questions, please contact:
| NWS Eastern Region: | WFO Albany: |
| Melissa DiSpigna | Stephen DiRienzo |
| Regional Aviation/Fire/Severe Program Manager | Warning Coordination Meteorologist |
| National Weather Service | National Weather Service |
| Eastern Region Headquarters | ETEC – National Weather Service |
| 630 Johnson Avenue Suite 202 | 1400 Washington Ave. |
| Bohemia, NY | Albany, NY 12222 |
| Telework: (607) 972–9649 | (518) 626–7573 x223 |
| Office: (631) 224–0122 | stephen.dirienzo@noaa.gov |
| Melissa.DiSpigna@noaa.gov |
| WFO Binghamton: | WFO Burlington: |
| Mark Pellerito | Scott Whittier |
| Warning Coordination Meteorologist | Warning Coordination Meteorologist |
| National Weather Service | National Weather Service |
| 32 Dawes Drive | Burlington International Airport |
| Johnson City, NY 13790 | 1200 Airport Drive |
| (607) 770–9531 x223 | South Burlington, VT 05403 |
| mark.pellerito@noaa.gov | (802) 862–8711 x223 |
| scott.whittier@noaa.gov |
| WFO Buffalo: | WFO New York City: |
| Mike Fries | Nelson Vaz |
| Warning Coordination Meteorologist | Warning Coordination Meteorologist |
| National Weather Service | National Weather Service |
| 587 Aero Drive | 175 Brookhaven Ave, NWS-1 |
| Cheektowaga, NY 14225 | Upton, NY 11973 |
| (716) 565–0103 x223 | (631) 924–0037, x223 |
| michael.j.fries@noaa.gov | nelson.vaz@noaa.gov |
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