One week of Pacific Northwest wildfire activity
5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) daytime True Color RGB and Nighttime Microphysics RGB images spanning the 7-day period from 31 July to 06 August 2026 (above) showed numerous dense smoke plumes emanating from active wildfires, along with widespread residual smoke from previous days of wildfire activity across much of the Pacific Northwest. At night, thermal anomalies associated with active wildfires (clusters of purple pixels) were evident. Note that a few of the larger and more dense smoke plumes exhibited shades of magenta after sunset — an indication that some blowing dust was intermingled with the smoke, which had been lofted by the strong surface winds that were a factor in rapid wildfire growth (the Red component of the Nighttime Microphysics RGB is this Split Window Difference).
Much of the Northwest US had been experiencing Moderate to Exceptional Drought during that particular week (below).
