Forest fire weather index

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/forest-fire-weather-index

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the developer?Canadian Forest Service
2. What is the development period?Late 1960s
3. How does the Forest Fire Weather Index use weather to predict fire danger?It takes daily temperature, rain, humidity, and wind, then calculates codes for how wet the surface litter, deeper layers, and soil are, and turns those into a fire danger number.
4. Why was the Forest Fire Weather Index created in Canada?Canadian scientists needed a clear, objective way to measure fire risk across their huge forests, so they built the index in the 1960s.

Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI): A standardized, quantitative system for assessing daily wildfire potential based on weather and fuel conditions.
Fuel Moisture Codes (FFMC, DMC, DC): Calculated values representing the moisture content of fine fuels, duff, and deeper soil layers, respectively.
Initial Spread Index (ISI): An index that predicts the rate at which a fire will spread, influenced by wind and fuel moisture.
Wildland Environments: Natural areas such as forests, grasslands, and shrublands where wildfires can occur.