IMETs: A day in the life of NOAA fire weather forecaster Robert Rickey
When a large wildfire breaks out, NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) is on the scene to help fight fires with weather forecasts. Specially trained forcasters, commonly known as incident meteorologists or IMETs deploy to a wildfire to serve as key members of wildfire incident command teams. These specialty forecasters provide critical information that wildfire managers and first responders need to successfully and safely contain fires. IMETs also support operations at prescribed fires by providing site-specific spot weather forecasts to help with tactical decision-making. NWS employs more than 100 IMETs, including fully qualified professionals and trainees, located in NWS offices across the