One of the Bureau of Meteorology's top emergency weather forecasters was the special guest at a CFA Group event this week.
Whittlesea Diamond Valley Group was very fortunate to arrange for Kevin Parkyn, the BOM’s embedded meteorologist in the State Control Centre (SCC), to talk at its speaker's night.
Group Officer Lex De Man introduced Kevin to the representatives of the Whittlesea Diamond Valley, Hume and Nillumbik Groups at the Ivanhoe Grammar Campus in Doreen.
Kevin has expertise in remote sensing and climatology, and his father believes he is a soothsayer.
Kevin spoke about a range of fire weather related topics, his experience in the US at a large fire, and his role in the SCC in Melbourne.
Kevin referred us to the BOM Website in particular the following link
http://media.bom.gov.au/social/blog/1371/weather-and-emergency-management-behind-the-scenes-at-victorias-state-control-centre/
There was much discussion about important weather information on the fireground including:
- wind direction, speed, gusts and variability
- prospects of a wind change
- temperature and relative humidity
- cloud and precipitation
- instability and mixing height of the smoke column
Kevin gave us an insight into what he believes is the outlook for the forthcoming 18-19 fire season.
This was a valuable update for us to improve and refresh our knowledge on fire weather behaviour.
We also now have a better understanding how the SCC can support us on the fireground, and to ready ourselves for the next fire season.
DGO Geoff Schmidt thanked Kevin for a very interesting presentation.