The anomalously strong ridge of high pressure that helped to bring record warm temperatures to parts of the Pacific Northwest — which included an all-time high temperature of 103º F at Seattle WA — was also bringing unseasonably warm temperatures as far north as the Yukon Territory of Canada on 29 July – 30 July 2009. A GOES-11 IR image with surface reports (above) showed... Read More

The 2009 wildfire season roared to life in Alaska on 02 July – 03 July 2009, with a number of very large and very intense fires breaking out across interior portions of the state. A ridge of high pressure was in place over the region, allowing Fairbanks to experience a high temperature above... Read More

Wildfire activity was beginning to increase across parts of Quebec, Canada on 24 June 2009 — and AWIPS images of the MODIS 3.7 µm shortwave IR channel (above) revealed a number of large fire “hot spots” (red to yellow color enhancement) that were increasing in areal coverage between 16:29 UTC and 18:14... Read More

Fires in coastal northeastern South Carolina, (news links here and here, for example) near Myrtle Beach, have destroyed 70+ houses and forced residents to evacuate. A true-color MODIS image that shows the distinct smoke plume is available here.The fires were visible from satellite in both the visible channels, as shown above,... Read More