Research Brief: Hot-Dry-Windy Index (HDWI) - A Tool to Understand and Predict Dangerous Fire Weather

The Hot-Dry-Windy Index (HDWI) harnesses the basic science of how weather affects fire behavior. The index answers the question: “What physical weather conditions make fires difficult to manage?” This is distinct from other fire indices, which typically analyze weather patterns from past fires. The HDWI approach has two main advantages. First, hot, dry, and windy conditions can be applied to different locations and time periods. Second, these conditions can often be reliably forecasted several days in advance. As a result, HDWI helps anticipate periods when fires may become difficult to control.

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This is a research brief based on: Srock, A. F., Charney, J. J., Potter, B. E., & Goodrick, S. L. (2018). The hot-dry-windy index: A new fire weather index. Atmosphere, 9(7), 279.