NASA: MISR Instrument Sees California Wildfire Smoke Plumes From Space This post first appeared on the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory website and was written by Esprit Smith, NASA’s Earth Science News Team. Smoke from several large wildfires burning in Northern California can be seen traveling miles into the atmosphere. As of Aug. 24, wildfires in Northern California – including the McCash, Antelope, River Complex, Monument, and Dixie fires – have […] Fire Firebrains | August 26, 2021 0 Comments
Lake Tahoe’s Air Quality is Some of the Worst in North America Lake Tahoe has some of the worst air quality in North America right now. The prevailing winds are carrying smoke from the nearby Caldor Fire right into the Tahoe Basin. Related: Caldor Fire Forces Ski Area Closures as it Nears Lake Tahoe, CA At the time of writing, the lodge at the Alpine Meadows ski area has an air quality […] Fire Firebrains | August 24, 2021 6 Comments
[VIDEO] “Unskilled Labor:” a Season With the Hotshots | Wildland Fire Documentary Hotshot Firefighter Crew [arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6CP5SKQjzg"] Firebrains | August 23, 2021 Likes Tweets 4 Comments
Caldor Fire Forces Ski Area Closures as it Nears Lake Tahoe, CA On Saturday, the Caldor Fire in El Dorado County southwest of Lake Tahoe crossed Highway 50 near Kyburz as high winds forced the blaze within six miles of Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort. US 50, which links South Lake Tahoe to Sacramento and the Bay Area, remains closed. East of Kyburz viewing N side of Hwy 50 #CaldorFire pic.twitter.com/bEUfoaAowM — craig philpott (@CphilpottCraig) […] Fire Firebrains | August 23, 2021 2 Comments
NASA: California is Burning The post ‘California Burning’ first appeared on NASA Earth Observatory and was written by Adam Voiland. The worst of California’s fire season typically comes in autumn, but severe drought and bouts of unusually warm weather have helped sustain several major fires in northern California for much of August. Related: California Wildfire Becomes First Known to Cross Sierra Nevada Mountain Range […] Fire Firebrains | August 23, 2021 0 Comments
California Wildfire Becomes First Known to Cross Sierra Nevada Mountain Range The Dixie Fire, currently the second-largest wildfire in California’s history, has become the first known fire to burn across the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Related: The World Is on Fire – An Overview of Current Wildfires On Wednesday, the wildfire made it from the western slopes of the Sierra across to the floor of the eastern valley, according to the […] Fire Firebrains | August 20, 2021 2 Comments
Pyrocumulonimbus Storms: How Fire Creates Its Own Weather The 2021 fire season has been absolutely devastating so far. 40,945 fires have burned 4,399,923 acres to date in the US, a staggering figure compared to last year’s seemingly cataclysmic fire season, which left 2,747,015 acres burned up to the same date (8/19). However, one aspect of the fires this year that has received much more media attention is the numerous […] Fire Clay Malott | August 19, 2021 0 Comments
The World Is on Fire – An Overview of Current Wildfires The world is on fire. 2021 is turning out to be a terrible year for wildfires, with widespread fires burning or having burnt across six continents. Huge blazes are burning in North America, South America, Canada, Russia, and Europe. Related: Wildfire Smoke Reaches North Pole For First Time in Recorded History The devastating effects of wildfires, which have killed more than […] Fire Firebrains | August 19, 2021 0 Comments
The Worst Wildfires in Recent U.S. History The past few summers in the United States can be described by record high temperatures, terrible wildfires, and climate change. Since the age of industrialization, there has been an exponential increase in the burning of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions, which burns through the atmosphere’s ozone layer and allows for consistently warming temperatures and more unpredictable weather patterns. This […] Brains Jesse | August 16, 2021 2 Comments
Wildfire Smoke Reaches North Pole For First Time in Recorded History A vast, thick, and acrid blanket of smoke emitted from hundreds of forest fires covered most of Russia on August 6, 2021. Related: Why the Smoke Pollution From the West is the Worst It’s Been in 10-Years This true-color image, which was acquired by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite on August 6, was created using […] Fire Firebrains | August 11, 2021 0 Comments
Air Quality in Denver, CO Was the Worst in the World on Saturday The top is what the view normally looks like. The bottom is the current view of #Denver with all the smoke covering the city. pic.twitter.com/PPsJ1LwxAW — Nick Ota-Wang, MA | He/Him/His (@NickOtaWang) August 8, 2021 The air quality in Denver, CO was the worst of any major city in the world on Saturday, as smoke […] Fire Firebrains | August 9, 2021 2 Comments
NASA: California’s Dixie Fire Keeps on Growing | 2nd Largest in California’s History This article first appeared on NASA Earth Observatory and was written by Kathryn Hansen. The Dixie fire in Northern California has surpassed the Bootleg fire in Oregon to become the largest fire so far this year in the United States. As of August 9, 2021, the Dixie fire had charred 489,287 acres (765 square miles). Related: Satellite Images of Wildfire […] Fire Firebrains | August 9, 2021 1 Comment
CAL FIRE: 151% Increase in Acres Burned Across California as Compared to Last Year: “Have Go-Bag Ready” The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) reported yesterday that California has seen a 151% increase in acres burned across California due to wildfires when compared to this time last year. And it’s still only early August. CAL FIRE wrote in a Facebook post: “Now is the time to prepare you and your family by having your […] Fire Firebrains | August 6, 2021 0 Comments
Satellite Images of Wildfire Smoke in Northern California: 2020 vs. 2021 Here’s a snapshot of how this wildfire season in Northern California is going compared to last year’s. On August 3 last year, Northern California enjoyed relatively smoke-free skies. But on August 3 this year, plenty of smoke from area wildfires was seen on visible satellite imagery. Check out the latest air quality & smoke coverage at fire.airnow.gov Related: NASA Images: […] Fire Firebrains | August 5, 2021 0 Comments
Colorado Governor Will Declare a State of Emergency Following I-70 Mudslides After an intense 2020 fire season in Colorado, the summer of 2021 has seen record levels of rainfall. This is an extremely costly combination: “The threat of wildfires can be felt long after the flames have been extinguished. As forests and hillsides are charred, damage to trees, plants and the soil can create the potential for flooding and mudslides during […] Industry News Jesse | August 4, 2021 0 Comments
NASA Images: A Summer of Fire-Breathing Smoke Storms A Summer of Fire-Breathing Smoke Storms first appeared on NASA Earth Observatory and was written by Adam Voiland. In 2000, atmospheric scientists from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) first reported that smoke plumes from intense wildfires could spawn towering thunderstorms that channeled smoke as high or higher than the cruising altitude of jets. These pyrocumulonimbus, or pyroCb, events wowed scientists […] Fire Firebrains | July 30, 2021 1 Comment
VIDEO: Fire Department Demonstrates How Quickly a Discarded Cigarette Can Start a Wildfire This is all it takes to start a wildfire. One dropped cigarette is all it takes for a fire to start in dead grass (test done in a controlled location at our fire station.) Related: Brain Post: Burn Scars – How Wildfires Can Cause Dangerous Flash Flooding #bcwildfires #wildfire #dashwoodstrong #becareful Fire Firebrains | July 30, 2021 0 Comments
Why the Smoke Pollution From the West is the Worst It’s Been in 10-Years The story ‘Smoke Across North America’ first appeared on NASA Earth Observatory and was written by Adam Voiland. While plumes of wildfire smoke from western North America have passed over the northeastern U.S. and Canada multiple times each summer in recent years, they often go unnoticed. That is because smoke that spreads far from its source typically moves at a fairly […] Fire Firebrains | July 23, 2021 0 Comments
Tamarack Fire, 20-Miles South of Lake Tahoe, CA, Spreads into Nevada With No Signs of Slowing The Tamarack Fire, less than 20-miles south of Lake Tahoe, which has burned almost 44,000 acres since starting on July 4, yesterday crossed the border into Nevada prompting further evacuations. Related: Wildfire Smoke Poisoning: Do You Know The Warning Signs? Firefighters were successful yesterday in preventing the uncontained wildfire from crossing California State Route 88 at Woodford. Crews have been battling […] Fire Firebrains | July 22, 2021 1 Comment
Smoke From Western Wildfires Affecting Air Quality Across the Country This post first appeared on NASA Earth Observatory and was written by Adam Voiland. Smoke from fires raging in central and western North America has spread widely across the continent. Skies have turned hazy in cities ranging from Boston to Washington, D.C., as smoke from fires in Canada’s Manitoba and Ontario provinces poured into the U.S. Northeast. Related: Wildfire Smoke […] Fire Firebrains | July 22, 2021 0 Comments