Bob Hill is the Brookings County emergency manager.

Since my last article, Brookings County has enacted a burn ban. My office has been fielding questions about what that means.

According to our Brookings County Nuisance Ordinance, Ordinance #2001-02, it means you cannot do any open burning:  The intentional burning of any substance, whether natural or manmade, or the intentional casting off of any burning substance, whether natural or manmade. There are exceptions and these are as follows:

• The burning of any such substance in an approved container sufficient so as to prohibit the escape of any of the burning substance, or any sparks, flames or hot ashes from the container. The escape of any of such burning substance, or the escape of any sparks, flames or hot ashes from any such container shall be deemed prima facie evidence the container was insufficient so as to meet the exception. Such container must be located so the smoke from the fire does not travel to any occupied structure not owned by the person starting the fire.
• The maintaining of a fire in any interior fireplace, stove or furnace.
• Campfires and bonfires which are used solely for recreational purposes, for ceremonial occasions, or for outdoor preparation of food; provided that such campfire or other fire is started and maintained so as to prevent the escape of any burning substances, sparks, flames or hot ashes and so as to prevent the smoke from such campfire or other fire from traveling to any occupied structure not owned by the person starting the fire.

Brookings County has a second ordinance that prohibits open burning when the National Weather Service has declared a red flag warning in the county or when the grassland fire danger rating in the county reaches very high or extreme, meaning wildfire and dangerous fire hazards exist.

Use care in fog

 Now I want to shift back to fall weather. As you might have noticed, fall is not in a hurry to start quite yet. The National Weather Service sent a reminder that fog can form during the mornings when the temperatures fluctuate.

Driving in fog can be dangerous, with over 38,000 vehicle crashes occurring each year. Of those crashes, over 600 people are killed and more than 16,300 people are injured annually. Be on the lookout for sudden changes in visibility, and if reduced visibilities are encountered while driving, do not change lanes or pass other vehicles unless absolutely necessary. Slow down, turn off cruise control, reduce “in-vehicle” distractions and be sure you can stop within the distance you can see.

Some other information from the weather service if you must drive in foggy conditions:

• Slow down and allow extra time to reach your destination.
• Make your vehicle visible to others both ahead of you and behind you by using your low-beam headlights since this means your taillights will also be on. Use fog lights if you have them.
• Never use your high-beam lights. Using high beam lights causes glare, making it more difficult for you to see what’s ahead of you on the road.
• Leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front of you to account for sudden stops or changes in the traffic pattern.
• To ensure you are staying in the proper lane, follow the lines on the road with your eyes.
• In extremely dense fog where visibility is near zero, the best course of action is to first turn on your hazard lights, then simply pull into a safe location such as a parking lot of a local business and stop.
• If there is no parking lot or driveway to pull into, pull your vehicle off to the side of the road as far as possible. Once you come to a stop, turn off all lights except your hazard flashing lights, set the emergency brake, and take your foot off of the brake pedal to be sure the taillights are not illuminated so that other drivers don't mistakenly run into you.

The weather service does send out their advisories and warnings when the conditions warrant it.

Dense fog advisory: This is issued by your local National Weather Service office when widespread dense fog develops. When this happens, visibilities frequently drop to one-quarter of a mile or less. These conditions make travel difficult. Take extra caution when on the road or avoid driving if possible.

Freezing fog advisory: This is issued by your local National Weather Service office when fog develops, and surface temperatures are at or below freezing. The tiny liquid droplets in the fog can freeze instantly to any surface, including vehicles and road surfaces. Freezing fog makes driving, boating, flying and other forms of transportation particularly hazardous. Visibilities are typically at or below 1 mile.

Cold weather

The weather service has streamlined its process when dealing with cold weather. What do you need to know about hazard simplification? Or to phrase it another way, what does weather service consolidation mean for the extreme cold, freeze, and wind chill product suites? 

• As part of the ongoing National Weather Service Hazard Simplification Project, the weather service is acting upon data collected during public and partner engagements, surveys, and social science research leading to the consolidation of wind chill and extreme cold products and freeze and hard freeze products.
• The weather service's new cold product suite will allow the weather service to communicate that cold is dangerous with or without wind. Wind chill will not go away, although emphasis will be placed on “cold is cold” for public safety.
• Consolidation of the weather service's freeze and hard freeze products into one streamlined freeze watch/warning with enhanced language for hard freeze conditions as needed will simplify and improve messaging and service delivery.
• The scope of the weather service frost/freeze services is focused on vegetation and agriculture, taking into account growing season, impacts, and precautionary/preparedness actions.

What are the benefits of hazard simplification?

• It streamlines the forecast process.
• It unifies terms across the U.S.
• It simplifies messaging by using a single product type for extreme cold and wind chill.
• It produces simplified messaging by using a single product for freeze and hard freeze.
• It has the ability to message that cold is dangerous with or without wind.
• And last but not least it has the ability to offer clearer watch/warning/advisory maps.

Enjoy this nice weather and remember to keep an eye on the sky.

Bob the EM