The Haines Index is a measure of how readily atmospheric conditions roughly 1 to 3 km (0.5 to 2 miles) above the ground would support the development of a large or erratic plume dominated wildfire. As part of a project funded by the USDA Forest Service and the Joint Fire Science Program, research scientists at Michigan State University, the Northern Research Station, and the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory have created this climatology of the Haines Index based on data from the years 1961 through 2000.