1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Visible images with an overlay of the Fire Mask derived product (above) showed the rapid growth of the Wrights Springs Fire in southwestern Oregon on 07 August 2026. Tragically, the rapid growth and erratic wildfire behavior resulted in one firefighter fatality.

The rapid wildfire growth was also evident in 1-minute GOES-18 GeoColor RGB images with a overlay of Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) Fire Detection polygons (below). The Wrights Spring Fire burned very hot, first exhibiting the GOES-18 Band 7 detector saturation temperature of 138 C at 2043 UTC.

During the subsequent nighttime hours, the bright glow of the large Wrights Spring Fire was apparent in central Klamath County (about 15 miles north-northeast of Klamath Falls International Airport, KLMT) in NOAA-21 VIIRS Day/Night Band imagery (below).

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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).

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5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-19 (GOES-East) Nighttime Microphysics RGB + daytime True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (above) showed the formation of nocturnal river valley fog over parts of the Mississippi River and a few of its tributaries in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois on 03 August 2026. The river valley fog then dissipated within a few hours after sunrise. Light winds and cloud-free conditions within a surface ridge of high pressure over the region allowed for ample radiational cooling that led to the fog formation,

GOES-19 Night Fog brightness temperature difference (BTD) + daytime Visible images (below) included hourly plots of Ceiling and Visibility — at some sites in the Wisconsin River valley, the visibility dropped to 1/4 mile (or even to zero) at times.

A NOAA-21 VIIRS Day/Night Band image at 0833 UTC (3:33 AM Central Time) revealed a faint signature of the river valley fog (below), as illuminated by the Moon (which was in the Waning Gibbous phase, at 75% of Full).

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1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Visible images with an overlay of the Fire Mask derived product (above) showed the Old Trails Fire (initially named the Euclid Fire) as it started around 1907 UTC on 01 August 2026 — then grew rapidly as strong SW winds (with gusts as high as 40 knots) caused the wildfire to quickly expand into northwestern portions of the Spokane, Washington area (forcing numerous evacuations). SPC had highlighted much of eastern Washington as having an Extreme Fire Risk on that day — and NWS Spokane issued its first-ever Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) Red Flag Warning for the area.

1-minute GOES-18 GeoColor RGB images with an overlay of Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) Fire Detection polygons (below) provided a better view of the thermal structure/intensity of wildfires in the Spokane area.

1-minute GOES-18 True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) displayed a larger-scale view of the smoke plumes produced by the Spokane area wildfires. A few intermittent pulses of brighter-white pyrocumulus clouds were seen immediately downwind of the Old Trails Fire.

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