1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) displayed a pronounced thermal signature associated with the Franklin Fire, which began burning just north-northwest Malibu, California around 0644 UTC on 10th December 2024 (or 10:24 PM PST on 9th December). This wildfire was driven by strong Santa Ana winds, which helped it to increase rapidly in... Read More

5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) Nighttime Microphysics RGB + daytime True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (above) displayed the nocturnal thermal signatures (darker shades of violet) of a few wildfires in the vicinity or the New Jersey-New York border — particularly that associated with the larger and persistent Jennings Creek... Read More

Day Night Band imagery from NOAA-20, below, captured from the NASA Worldview site, shows a great increase in emitted light associated with the Mountain Fire on 7 November over Ventura County, CA, to the north of Los Angeles. This occurred during a time with little lunar illumination — when moonlight is available, the smoke plume... Read More

The Storm Prediction Center issued an Extreme Fire Weather Outlook (note that those conditions are #6 on the Priority List for Mesoscale Sectors!) for portions of southern California on 6 November 2024, and the forecast office in Los Angeles issued both High Wind Warnings — for strong Santa Ana winds — and a Red Flag Warning, as shown here, noting that this was a Particularly Dangerous... Read More