Calif. fires: The view from space
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NASA Terra satellite captures the view from space on August 30th as fires burn north of Los Angeles.
You've seen the flames on TV. You've seen the time lapse video, and the doppler radar images of the plume.
Here's what the California fires look like from space with NASA'a Terra polar orbiting satellite. The image above is taken at a 46 degree angle off of vertical.
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If you look closely you can see several features on the image. First, the gray smoke plumes are clearly visible blowing off to the northeast.
Secondly, the white bumpy tops above the smoke plume are pyrocumulus clouds. These are cumulus clouds created by the strong heated updrafts from the fire. In some cases the updrafts and atmospheric conditions can combine to produce pyrocumulonimbus, or "fire thunderstorms."
You can see some really great enlarged view of these images here.
Smoke from the fires in the west has reached Vegas and Denver. It is possible we will see some of the smoke filter into Minnesota, producing more vivid reddish sunsets the next few days.
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