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Milepost 97 Fire in southwestern Oregon

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-17 Fire Temperature RGB,

GOES-17 Fire Temperature RGB, “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), CIMSS Natural Color RGB and Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

An animation that cycles through GOES-17 (GOES-West) Fire Temperature Red-Green-Blue (RGB), “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), CIMSS Natural Color RGB and Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images (above) showed the thermal anomaly (darker red pixels) and smoke associated with the Milepost 97 Fire in southwestern Oregon on 26 July 2019. In this particular case, dense smoke appeared as darker shades of green in the Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images.

A time series of surface data from Sexton Summit (immediately downwind of the fire) indicated that smoke reduced the surface visibility at that location to 1/4 mile at times; farther from the fire, the visibility was in the 2-3 mile range at times in Medford (below).

Time series of surface data from Sexton Summit [click to enlarge]

Time series of surface data from Sexton Summit [click to enlarge]

Time series of surface data from Rogue Valley International Airport in Medford [click to enlarge]

Time series of surface data from Rogue Valley International Airport in Medford [click to enlarge]

===== 27 July Update =====

GOES-17 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-17 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-17 True Color RGB images from the AOS site (above) showed the increased coverage of smoke from the Milepost 97 Fire, spreading across southern Oregon and into Northern California on 27 July. Some of the smoke had been lofted to higher altitudes, being transported as far northeastward as Montana.

Later in the day, GOES-17 True Color RGB images showed that the smoke had moved a significant distance southward along and just off the California coast (below).

GOES-17 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-17 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

Categories: Air quality, Fire detection, GOES-17, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images