VIL of 70 may only be associated with heavy rainfall. Thus, spotters are very important in the warning process because they help establish the "VIL of the day".  When a report of large hail is received from spotters, we correlate it with a certain VIL.  Once the "VIL of the day" has been established, warning for severe hail becomes easier.

By    Stephen Wilkinson
          ILN Forecaster

Continued Fires

determine the behavior of the fire or they will evaluate the fire utilizing their past experience.

Another key tool used in fighting fires is satellite imagery. Both visible and Infrared imagery (IR)  are useful for the detection and evaluation of forest fires.  Visible imagery will depict the smoke plume where as the  temperature scale of the IR imagery is useful in pinpointing the hot spots of the fires. The picture on page 1 is an example of an IR image.  The white dots in this picture depict the individual fires across the central portion of Florida.

Many key factors play a role in the ignition, detection and fight against forest fires.  Everyone plays a part in this fight from the people who actually battle the fire to the support staff as well as the general public. If we all play our role in the fighting process, perhaps the battle will be won more quickly.
 
    By  Diane  Innes

Information obtained from the website modarch.fsfc.nasa.gov/fire_atlas/NAMERICA/FLORIDA98