The season of wildfires in 2018 in North America is in full swing – in late July, the number of hectares passed by fire exceeded the average.
Previously, satellite images showed the presence of smoke and signs of fires in some western states, including California and Colorado. Now the smoke from fires is noticeable in almost every western state.
These images in natural colors were obtained using the MODIS tool on NASA’s Terra and Aqua 28 satellites and on July 29th. Animation shows how the wind can cause the direction and distance of the smoke trails from the source to change daily.
A significant amount of smoke is associated with a fire that received the name “Carr”, which rages in the county of Shasta in California. The fire broke out on July 23, thanks to warm and dry conditions. By July 30, he had passed 39.9 thousand hectares and was only 20% localized. The media reported that a gusty wind and a predictable lack of rainfall could worsen the situation.
Fires in other states also contributed to the smokescreen over the west of the United States. According to the National Interdepartmental Fire Center, as of July 30 throughout the US, 98 large active fires were recorded on an area of 485.6 thousand hectares. Most of the fires were recorded in Oregon (16), Alaska (15), Arizona (10), Colorado (13) and California (9).
Most sites of burning land are not visible directly on satellite images, as they are covered by smoke and clouds.
