PyreCast Functionality FAQs

Quick Help and Feature Information

Hover over interface icons with your cursor to view brief descriptions of tools and features.

Red Flag Warnings

Enabling Show Red Flag Warnings overlays areas with active fire weather watches and red flag warnings issued by the National Weather Service

(NWS). These indicate conditions where lightning or hot/dry/windy conditions will increase wildfire risk.

Historic Fire Perimeters
Selecting the clock icon in the upper right corner of the platform displays historic fire perimeters (from the year 2000 onward) for CONUS. Clicking on a fire will show the fire name, year, and acres burned.

Legend
Use Show/Hide legend to display or close the legend for active map layers.

Cameras

Selecting Show Cameras displays Alert Wildfire camera locations on the map across the western United States.  Zooming in on the map will reveal additional camera locations, while zooming out will decrease the amount of visible cameras to improve map clarity. Clicking on a camera icon opens a live viewing window in the upper right corner of the platform, which can be resized by clicking and dragging the lower left corner of the window to adjust its dimensions. Each image includes a timestamp to verify camera activity status. Within the camera dialog box, selecting the binoculars icon will jump the map directly to that camera’s geographic location. To go back to your previous map extent, click the return arrow in the lower left corner of the dialog box.

Weather Stations
Selecting the Show Weather Stations feature in the upper right corner of the platform will display the locations of weather stations across the United States.  Zooming in will reveal more weather station locations. Selecting a specific weather station will display the latest observation in the dialog box that appears in the upper right corner next to the weather station icon.  Once a weather station is selected the option to zoom into that weather station's location will appear in the lower right corner of the dialog box. To go back to the previous extent, simply click the back arrow in the lower left corner of the dialog box. All data and information is provided by the National Weather Service (NWS) API.

Point Information
The Show Point Information allows users to click any map location and view Fuels, Weather, and Risk data for that point. The Weather and Risk forecast tools will display a time series forecast graphic, while the Fuels tool will display a description of the underlying selected layer (e.g., fuel model, slope, canopy cover, etc.).

Share Map URL Link
Use the Share Current Map tool in the lower right corner of the platform interface to generate a URL that preserves the current map extent and visible layers for sharing with other users.

Enable/Disable 3d View
Selecting Enable 3D Terrain in the lower right corner of the user interface will allow users to enable or disable the three-dimensional terrain visualization. Instructions will appear the first time the feature is activated.

Center Map on Your Location
Selecting the Center Map on Your Location feature in the lower right corner of the user interface will allow users to zoom directly to their current location on the map. Location access must be enabled in your web browser to use this feature.

Zoom to Fit Layer
Selecting the Zoom to Fit Layer icon in the lower right corner of the user interface adjusts the map extent to the full spatial coverage of the currently selected layer. In the Fuels, Weather, and Risk tabs, the map will zoom to the geographic extent of the layer selected (in most cases, the continental United States). In the Active Fire tab, the tool will zoom to include all active fires within the region. The map extent is adjusted to encompass the outermost centroids of the active fire perimeters, effectively framing all modeled fires within the visible map view. 

Zoom in/Zoom out
Zooming in and out on the map can be achieved in two ways: 1) using the wheel on your mouse, or 2) using the Zoom In or Zoom Out icons on the lower right corner of the platform.

Pointer Position
The cursor position (latitude/longitdue in decimal degrees) is displayed in the lower right corner of the platform.

Pan
To move the map extent (side to side and top to bottom) of the platform, left click, hold, and drag the map in any direction.

Distance Scale

In the lower right corner of the platform, a scale bar is displayed in imperial units and will update as the map extent is zoomed in or out.

Time Slider
The time slider controls visualization of Weather, Risk, and Active Fire data in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or local time. Local time is determined by your location as opposed to the timezone in the area of the current map displayed. Users can animate forecasts, step forward or backward in time, and adjust playback speed.  The bottom of the slider identifies the date (year-month-day) and time (0-24 hours).