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FEMs team identifies KBDI calculation bug; code fix planned for early-year release

FEMs Office Hours (Wildland Fire Application Portal) · January 30, 2026
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Summary

FEMs developers confirmed a known KBDI calculation issue tied in part to historical POR gap-filling; they said a code correction has been identified and is targeted for a late-January/early-February release, with DRI updates to historical presets to address anomalous annual-precipitation values.

Scott, the FEMs presenter, acknowledged a known issue in KBDI calculations and said the development team has located the code error and knows the correction needed. He said the fix is planned for the next release cycle, estimated for late January or early February.

Scott also explained that some anomalous KBDI and annual-precipitation values are artifacts of historical POR gap filling and a drizzle-bias in the gridded dataset for parts of the East (and a subset in the West). He said DRI is working to update the historical preset dataset so that annual-precipitation presets better reflect true station values; once that updated historical POR is ingested, Scott expects many of the KBDI anomalies to be resolved.

Why it matters: KBDI is an important standalone drought/fuel-moisture index used by some practitioners. Scott emphasized the system now isolates KBDI from other NFDRS outputs (KBDI will not drive other NFDRS values until corrected), reducing the risk of KBDI errors propagating to other fire-danger products.

Quote: "We did find that KBDI issue. We know what the correction is. So we will get that applied into the next release," Scott said.

Next step: Expect the code correction in the upcoming release; DRI's historical dataset update will be ingested when available and should reduce historical-presets-related anomalies.