{"id":65041,"date":"2025-05-28T23:59:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T23:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/?p=65041"},"modified":"2025-05-30T16:30:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T16:30:17","slug":"pyrocumulonimbus-clouds-spawned-by-a-wildfire-in-british-columbia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/archives\/65041","title":{"rendered":"Pyrocumulonimbus clouds spawned by a wildfire in British Columbia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div style=\"width: 2998px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250528_g18_ir_visFireMask_BC_pyroCb.mp4\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250529_0100utc_g18_ir_visFireMask_BC_pyroCb.png\" width=\"2988\" height=\"1662\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">10-minute GOES-18 Clean Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m, left) images and Red Visible (0.64 \u00b5m) images + Fire Mask derived product (right), from 2000 UTC on 28 May to 0500 UTC on 29 May [click to play MP4 animation]<\/p><\/div>10-minute Full Disk scan GOES-18 <em>(GOES-West)<\/em> \u201cClean\u201d Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m) images and &#8220;Red&#8221; Visible (0.64 \u00b5m) images with an overlay of the <a href=\"http:\/\/rammb.cira.colostate.edu\/training\/visit\/training_sessions\/goes_r_fire_surface_properties\/video\/presentation_html5.html?lms=1\"><strong>FDCA<\/strong><\/a> Fire Mask derived product <em><strong>(above)<\/strong><\/em> showed that a large wildfire north of Fort Nelson (CYYE) in far northeastern British Columbia produced a series of ~3 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s43247-022-00566-8\"><strong>pyrocumulonimbus<\/strong><\/a> (pyroCb) clouds on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov\/dailywxmap\/index_20250528.html\"><strong>28 May 2025<\/strong><\/a>. The pyroCb clouds exhibited cloud-top 10.3 \u00b5m infrared brightness temperatures (IRBTs) in the -40s C (denoted by shades of blue to cyan) &#8212; a necessary condition to be classified as a pyroCb &#8212; beginning at <a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250529_0010utc_g18_ir_visFireMask_BC_pyroCb.png\"><strong>0010 UTC<\/strong><\/a> on 29 May. The coldest pyroCb cloud-top IRBT was -52.57\u00baC at 0320 UTC on 29 May <strong><em>(below)<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><div style=\"width: 2998px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250529_0320utc_g18_ir_vis_fireMask_BC_pyroCb.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250529_0320utc_g18_ir_vis_fireMask_BC_pyroCb.png\" width=\"2988\" height=\"1662\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">GOES-18 Clean Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m, left) image and Red Visible (0.64 \u00b5m) image + Fire Mask derived product (right), with a cursor sample of the coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperature at 0320 UTC on 29 May [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>According to rawinsonde data from Fort Nelson, British Columbia at 0000 UTC on 29 May <em><strong>(below)<\/strong><\/em>, the coldest pyroCb IRBT corresponded to an altitude around 11.1 km.<\/p>\n<p><div style=\"width: 2998px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250529_0000utc_cyye_raob.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250529_0000utc_cyye_raob.png\" width=\"2988\" height=\"1662\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plot of rawinsonde data from Fort Nelson, British Columbia at 0000 UTC on 29 May [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>This large wildfire burned very hot, exhibiting Shortwave Infrared 3.9 \u00b5m brightness temperature values of 137.88\u00baC \u2014 the saturation temperature of GOES-18 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goes-r.gov\/spacesegment\/abi.html\"><strong>ABI<\/strong><\/a> Band 7 detectors \u2014 for 2.5 hours, from 2210 UTC on 28 May (2 hours prior to the formation of the first pyroCb) until 0040 UTC on 29 May <strong><em>(below)<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 2998px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250528_2210utc_g18_swir_saturation_temperature.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250528_2210utc_g18_swir_saturation_temperature.png\" width=\"2988\" height=\"1662\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cursor sample of GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 \u00b5m) brightness temperature (left panel) at 2210 UTC on 28 May [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>\n<p><div style=\"width: 2998px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250529_0040utc_g18_swir_saturation_temperature.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250529_0040utc_g18_swir_saturation_temperature.png\" width=\"2988\" height=\"1662\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cursor sample of GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 \u00b5m) brightness temperature (left panel) at 0040 UTC on 29 May [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>This wildfire also made a significant run to the NNW in ~13 hours, as seen in a comparison of VIIRS Fire Radiative Power displayed using <a href=\"https:\/\/realearth.ssec.wisc.edu\/s\/q3f7HV\"><strong>RealEarth<\/strong><\/a> <em><strong>(below)<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><div style=\"width: 3242px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250528_2138utc_250529_1039utc_viirs_fireRadiativePower_BC_wildfire_anim.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250528_2138utc_250529_1039utc_viirs_fireRadiativePower_BC_wildfire_anim.gif\" width=\"3232\" height=\"2080\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">VIIRS Fire Radiative Power at 2138 UTC on 28 May and 1039 UTC on 29 May [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>The NNW run of the wildfire was also apparent in a 14-hour animation of <a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/ngfs\/\"><strong>Next Generation Fire System<\/strong><\/a> (NGFS) fire detection polygons <em><strong>(below)<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 3244px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250528_goes18_infrared_ngfs_BC_wildfire.mp4\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/250529_0900utc_g18_ir_ngfs_BC.png\" width=\"3234\" height=\"2072\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">10-minute GOES-18 Infrared Window images with an overlay of NGFS Fire Detection polygons, from 1900 UTC on 28 May to 0900 UTC on 29 May [click to play MP4 animation]<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>===== 29 May Update =====<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><div style=\"width: 1311px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/goeseast_abi_radf_true_color_night_s20250529110021_e20250530005021_f84.mp4\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2025\/05\/goeseast_abi_radf_true_color_night_20250529155021.png\" width=\"1301\" height=\"751\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">10-minute GOES-19 True Color RGB images, from 1100 UTC on 29 May to 0050 UTC on 30 May [click to play MP4 animation]<\/p><\/div>During the following daytime hours, GOES-19 <em>(GOES-East)<\/em> True Color RGB images <em><strong>(above)<\/strong><\/em> revealed a long ribbon of brownish-gray smoke-laden pyroCb ice cloud that was arcing eastward across the Northwest Territories then curving southward over Nunavut, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as the leading edge approached the Canada\/US border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>10-minute Full Disk scan GOES-18 (GOES-West) \u201cClean\u201d Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m) images and &#8220;Red&#8221; Visible (0.64 \u00b5m) images with an overlay of the FDCA Fire Mask derived product (above) showed that a large wildfire north of Fort Nelson (CYYE) in far northeastern British Columbia produced a series of ~3 pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) clouds on 28 May [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":65058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,114,159,158,53,45,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fire-detection","category-goes-18","category-goes-19","category-ngfs","category-real-earth","category-redgreenblue-rgb-images","category-viirs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65041"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65165,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65041\/revisions\/65165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}