Satellites Image Massive California Wildfire

September 21st, 2014 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.

The massive King Fire 60 miles east of Sacramento, CA was deliberately set on Sept. 14, and still remains mostly uncontained due to the drought and shifting winds.

It has burned over 120 square miles of forest, including some homes, and has required the use of a record amount of fire retardant dropped from aircraft.

The MODIS instruments on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites captured the following three images as the fire progressed, with winds eventually blowing smoke over much of Northern California, including the San Francisco Bay area:
King-wildfire-MODIS


3 Responses to “Satellites Image Massive California Wildfire”

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  1. Jim Curtis says:

    Some curious geography in the pictures. El Dorado county (where the fire is) and Lake Tahoe are on the eastern slope of the Sierra’s (I think). The fires appear to be in green areas which would be on the western slope (rising air sheds moisture (from the ocean to the west), descending air dries (Nevada is a desert)).

  2. “deliberately set” seems like terrorism to me.

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