Weather Glossary

The Australian Fire Danger Rating System — a national framework that forecasts daily bushfire danger using fuel type, weather and dryness.

Airborne mixture of fine particles and gases released when vegetation burns; a major air-quality and health hazard during fire seasons.

A daily forecast describing how dangerous a bushfire would be if one started — driven by weather, fuel and dryness.

A numerical index (FFDI) combining temperature, humidity, wind and dryness to estimate fire danger in forested fuels.

A towering fire-generated thunderstorm cloud (pyroCb) that can launch embers, lightning and erratic winds far ahead of a bushfire.

A legal declaration prohibiting the use of fire in the open during periods of dangerous fire weather.