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Spokane meteorologist to assist Australian crews with wildfires

Spokane meteorologist Todd Carter will take a 40-day trip to Australia to assist crews with putting out severe wildfires in the Southeastern area of the country.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane meteorologist Todd Carter will take a 40-day trip to Australia to assist crews with putting out severe wildfires in the Southeastern area of the country.

Carter works as a forecaster at the Spokane branch of the National Weather Service.

While in Australia, he will predict weather patterns as he does in Spokane, but he’ll also look at how those patterns will either add to the fires or affect the conditions of the land.

“Fire behavior forecasts take the weather component plus the fuels, the type of fuel that’s burning and the typography, and they roll all of that together in algorithms to determine where that fire will go in six, 12, 24 hours, maybe even a week if your weather forecasts are good enough,” Carter said.

He’ll work to create forecasts that will predict with the greatest amount of accuracy where the fires are headed and how crews can get ahead of them.

“That’s a time to create a message and distribute a message that will get those people aware to keep any flames or ignition sources at bay,” he said.

Carter returned from Australia in December from a family vacation, but said he’s excited to return to the country for a work assignment.

“Oh yes, I’m excited to get down to Australia to contribute to the services to help make sure everybody stays safe and also experience the Australian environment and way of life,” he said.

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The following video is a report on NASA using planes to study Spokane wildfire smoke.

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