On June 28, 2012, wildfires raged across the western United States. The Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado attracted the most attention after spreading into Colorado Springs and charring hundreds of homes, but large wildfires also burned throughout Utah, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona.
A lack of winter snow cover and ongoing drought primed vegetation in these states for ignition. But in recent weeks, another ingredient for extreme wildfire emerged: heat. High temperatures dry out vegetation and decrease the relative humidity, making it easier for fires to ignite and spread.
The intensity and scope of the heat wave in the western United States is visible in this map of land surface temperature anomalies for June 17–24, 2012. Based on data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, the map depicts temperatures compared to the 2000–2011 average for the same eight day period in June.
Credit; NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using MODIS data provided by Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LPDAAC). Caption by Adam Voiland
A lack of winter snow cover and ongoing drought primed vegetation in these states for ignition. But in recent weeks, another ingredient for extreme wildfire emerged: heat. High temperatures dry out vegetation and decrease the relative humidity, making it easier for fires to ignite and spread.
The intensity and scope of the heat wave in the western United States is visible in this map of land surface temperature anomalies for June 17–24, 2012. Based on data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, the map depicts temperatures compared to the 2000–2011 average for the same eight day period in June.
Credit; NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using MODIS data provided by Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LPDAAC). Caption by Adam Voiland
Areas with warmer than average temperatures are shown in red; near-normal temperatures are white; and areas that were cooler than the 2000-2011 base period are blue. Colorado experienced the brunt of the heat wave and had eight large wildfires burning on June 28, 2012. Wyoming and Utah—other states that have seen unusually hot weather—together had nine wildfires burning.
Land surface temperatures (LST) are distinct from the air temperatures that meteorological stations typically measure. LSTs indicate how hot the surface of the Earth would feel to the touch. From a satellite vantage point, the “surface” includes a number of materials that capture and retain heat, such as desert sand, the dark roof of a building, or the pavement of a road. As a result, daytime land surface temperatures are usually higher than air temperatures.
This heat wave, like all extreme weather events, has its direct cause in a complex set of atmospheric conditions that produce short-term weather. However, weather occurs within the broader context of the climate, and there’s a high level of agreement among scientists that global warming has made it more likely that heat waves of this magnitude will occur.
The GOES-15 satellite keeps a stationary eye over the western U.S. and the smoke from the fires raging in many of the states have created a brownish-colored blanket over the region. The dawn's early light revealed smoke and haze throughout the Midwest, arising from forest fires throughout the Rockies. While the most publicized fires occur along the populous eastern range in Colorado, the great smoke plumes in this image came from Wyoming. NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-15, captured this visible image on June 28 at 1245 UTC (8:45 a.m. EDT). This image was created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. For more information about NASA fire coverage, visit the NASA Fire page at: www.nasa.gov/fires.
Image: NASA/NOAA GOES Project. Caption: NASA Goddard, Rob Gutro
Fontenelle Fire, Wyoming
The Fontenelle Fire in western Wyoming continues to expand and generate a good deal of thick smoke, as seen by NASA satellite imagery.The Fontenelle Fire in western Wyoming continues to expand and generate a good deal of thick smoke, as seen by NASA satellite imagery.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard Aqua has infrared capabilities that can detect heat. In the MODIS images, fires, or hot spots are color coded as red areas in imagery and smoke appears in light brown. Images are generated at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
This image shows the heat and smoke from the Fonterelle fire in western Wyoming. The image was captured on June 28, 2012 at 20:20 UTC (4:20 p.m. EDT). The smoke was blowing in a northeasterly direction on the satellite image. This fire has consumed 22,826 acres and according to the U.S. Forest Service it located in Lincoln and Sublette County, Wyoming. The U.S. Forest Service reported on June 29, that the "Fire behavior is extreme with running, torching and short duration crown fire."
Image: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team;
Caption: Rob Gutro, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Waldo Canyon Fire, Colorado
As of June 28, 2012, at least 300 homes have been destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs, Colo., according to the Denver Post newspaper. NASA's Aqua satellite flew overhead on June 26 and captured an image of the smoke plume as more evacuations continued.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard Aqua has infrared capabilities that can detect heat. In the MODIS images, fires, or hot spots are color coded as red areas in imagery and smoke appears in light brown. Images are generated at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The image was captured on June 26, 2012 at 20:30 UTC (4:30 p.m. EDT) and revealed that despite two-thirds the state being covered with clouds, the smoke from the Waldo Canyon fire was still visible and blowing to the northeast. The cloud cover was obscuring the smoke from the other wildfires that currently pepper the state.
By June 28, the Waldo Canyon Fire forced 32,000 people from their homes. The fire started around noon on June 23, and by June 28 it had grown to 18,500 acres.
Image: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team;
Caption: Rob Gutro, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Land surface temperatures (LST) are distinct from the air temperatures that meteorological stations typically measure. LSTs indicate how hot the surface of the Earth would feel to the touch. From a satellite vantage point, the “surface” includes a number of materials that capture and retain heat, such as desert sand, the dark roof of a building, or the pavement of a road. As a result, daytime land surface temperatures are usually higher than air temperatures.
This heat wave, like all extreme weather events, has its direct cause in a complex set of atmospheric conditions that produce short-term weather. However, weather occurs within the broader context of the climate, and there’s a high level of agreement among scientists that global warming has made it more likely that heat waves of this magnitude will occur.
The GOES-15 satellite keeps a stationary eye over the western U.S. and the smoke from the fires raging in many of the states have created a brownish-colored blanket over the region. The dawn's early light revealed smoke and haze throughout the Midwest, arising from forest fires throughout the Rockies. While the most publicized fires occur along the populous eastern range in Colorado, the great smoke plumes in this image came from Wyoming. NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-15, captured this visible image on June 28 at 1245 UTC (8:45 a.m. EDT). This image was created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. For more information about NASA fire coverage, visit the NASA Fire page at: www.nasa.gov/fires.
Image: NASA/NOAA GOES Project. Caption: NASA Goddard, Rob Gutro
Fontenelle Fire, Wyoming
The Fontenelle Fire in western Wyoming continues to expand and generate a good deal of thick smoke, as seen by NASA satellite imagery.The Fontenelle Fire in western Wyoming continues to expand and generate a good deal of thick smoke, as seen by NASA satellite imagery.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard Aqua has infrared capabilities that can detect heat. In the MODIS images, fires, or hot spots are color coded as red areas in imagery and smoke appears in light brown. Images are generated at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
This image shows the heat and smoke from the Fonterelle fire in western Wyoming. The image was captured on June 28, 2012 at 20:20 UTC (4:20 p.m. EDT). The smoke was blowing in a northeasterly direction on the satellite image. This fire has consumed 22,826 acres and according to the U.S. Forest Service it located in Lincoln and Sublette County, Wyoming. The U.S. Forest Service reported on June 29, that the "Fire behavior is extreme with running, torching and short duration crown fire."
Image: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team;
Caption: Rob Gutro, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Waldo Canyon Fire, Colorado
As of June 28, 2012, at least 300 homes have been destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs, Colo., according to the Denver Post newspaper. NASA's Aqua satellite flew overhead on June 26 and captured an image of the smoke plume as more evacuations continued.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard Aqua has infrared capabilities that can detect heat. In the MODIS images, fires, or hot spots are color coded as red areas in imagery and smoke appears in light brown. Images are generated at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The image was captured on June 26, 2012 at 20:30 UTC (4:30 p.m. EDT) and revealed that despite two-thirds the state being covered with clouds, the smoke from the Waldo Canyon fire was still visible and blowing to the northeast. The cloud cover was obscuring the smoke from the other wildfires that currently pepper the state.
By June 28, the Waldo Canyon Fire forced 32,000 people from their homes. The fire started around noon on June 23, and by June 28 it had grown to 18,500 acres.
Image: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team;
Caption: Rob Gutro, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Source: NASA
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