Matt Jolly, Research Ecologist (USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station) will present the structure and function of the current version of the US National Fire Danger Rating System, NFDRS2016. He will show how this system can be used to assess seasonal variations in fuel moisture and fire potential and how it can be used to quantify fire season severity anywhere in the country. Jolly will demonstrate the use of FireFamily+ Version 5.0 to explore local fire weather conditions and he will suggest ways to use both tabular and graphical displays to communicate fire danger conditions to a variety of audiences such as firefighters, Incident Management Team members, fire management officers, line officers and the public. Finally, he will introduce new spatial fire danger assessment tools and discuss the future of NFDRS.