Southern California Wildfire Visible from Space

by | May 7, 2013

NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of a fire burning about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on May 2, 2013. The fire, which was being fought by more than 900 firefighters on the ground and 14 water-dropping helicopters and planes, was 10 percent contained by the morning of May 3.

On May 2, NASA's Terra satellite captured wafting smoke over the Pacific Ocean from fires fueled by hot, dry Santa Ana winds, high temperatures and low humidity.

The National Interagency Fire Center has predicted that fire season in California could be earlier than normal due to scarce winter and spring precipitation. Meteorologist Jeff Masters of Weather Underground noted that an unusually sharp ridge of high pressure has set up, bringing record high temperatures, a strong Santa Ana wind event and dangerous fire weather.

Temperatures in Southern California were above 90° Fahrenheit in many places, with humidity as low as 5 percent.

Image courtesy of NASA.

Read the full story.

NEWEST V1 MEDIA PUBLICATION

October Issue 2023