September 7, 2022 - Western United States Wildfires

Fires
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As northern hemisphere summer draws near its end, the Western United
States continues to suffer agonizingly high temperatures and widespread
wildfire. While California wins the prize for highest temperatures—the
National Weather Service reported that Sacramento hit an all-time high
of 116˚F on September 6, 2022—the state of Idaho has the most fire
activity.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) on September
6, there were 27 large fires burning in that state—up by 13 from
September 1. And these are just LARGE fires. A glance at the Idaho Fire
Map, published by the state government, shows the state dotted with
fire from the border with Canada to the town of Pocatello in the
south-eastern section of the state. The largest fire in Idaho is the
Moose Fire, which has burned 107,523 acres of grass, brush, and timber
north of the town of Salmon. This human-caused fire has been burning
more than 7 weeks, and has only reached 44 percent containment.

But ferocious wildfires are hardly contained to Idaho. According to the
NIFC, as of September 6, 69 large wildfires and complexes have burned
475,766 acres in eight states. More than 13,000 wildland fire personnel
are assigned to incidents. In the West, this includes 27 fires in
Idaho, 10 in Montana, 9 in Oregon, 7 in California, 7 in Washington, 2
in Texas, and 1 in Utah. There are also 2 fires in Florida.

On September 5, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image
centered on Idaho. Parts of other states are also visible: Washington
and Oregon can be seen west of Idaho, Nevada and Utah to the south, and
Montana to the east. Canada sits in the north. Dozens of red “hot
spots” can be seen scattered across the scene, especially in Idaho and
western Montana. Each red hot spot marks an area where the thermal
bands on the instrument detected high temperatures. When combined with
typical smoke, as in this image, such hot spots mark actively burning
fire. Smoke pours from many of the large fires, especially those
burning in the forests of the Bitterroot Mountains, and blows towards
the east. The density and length of the plumes suggest very strong
winds blowing from the west.

Dangerous fire weather is expected across most of the Western United
States over the next several days. The NIFC advisory states, “Very hot,
dry, and unstable conditions will be prevalent across much of the West
peaking along thermal trough(s) in California into the Northwest and
Great Basin. Widespread temperatures over 100°F are expected, including
much of the Central Valley and surrounding foothills above 110°F.
Minimum relative humidity will be 3-15% across much of the West and
breezy winds are likely to develop in portions of northeast California
into southern and central Oregon and in portions of Wyoming. Near
record Hot, Dry, Windy Index values are expected across the northern
half of California and much of southern and central Oregon as well.
Existing and any emerging new fires in these areas will be very active,
with increased activity expected on most if not all existing large
fires.”

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 9/5/2022
Resolutions: 1km (730.4 KB), 500m (2.5 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-09-07

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