More big fires in southern California
Aqua MODIS true color imagery (above) revealed a long smoke plume originating from a large wildfire that was burning northwest of Los Angeles on 03 December 2006 (500-meter resolution image). Strong northeasterly Santa Ana winds (gusting to 33 mph at nearby Thousand Oaks, CA) were helping to create an environment favorable for rapid wildfire growth. Farther to the north, haze was evident over parts of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, where unhealthy particle pollution levels were present — the Santa Ana winds appeared to be ventilating some of this haze from the interior valleys, blowing it westward over the San Francisco region and out across the adjacent Pacific Ocean.