High Winds, Hot Weather

Continue to Fan California Fires

Wispy cirrus clouds obscure some of the fire and smoke from the wildfires that have consumed large portions of northern California around the wine country in this latest NASA satellite image. The acreage that the most dominant fires have consumed has jumped significantly overnight. Yesterday the Tubbs fire had destroyed 28,000 acres and today the acreage has grown to 34,270. The Nuns fire which yesterday had consumed 5,000 acres has grown to 14,698 acres. Atlas was at 26,000 acres and today is at 43,762. The Partrick fire had affected 6,000 acres and today has grown to 10,817, and the Redwood Complex which devastated 29,500 acres has now grown to 32,100 acres. The California fires saw huge growth overnight without much containment. Most containment percentages of these fires remains in the single digits. Weather seems to be the hardest thing for firefighters to deal with in trying to contain the flames. The drought conditions over the past few months have created a tinderbox in the area. Couple that with low humidity and the diablo winds (hot, dry offshore winds from the northeast that typically occurs in this area during the spring and fall) and fire containment is almost impossible. A Red Flag warning remains over the entire Sonoma Valley/Napa Valley area for the next few days.

This satellite image was The Suomi NPP satellite's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument captured a look at multiple fires and smoke in California on October 11, 2017. The Suomi NPP satellite is a joint mission between NASA and NOAA.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner with information from the CAL fire website.

Last Updated: Oct. 12, 2017

Editor: Lynn Jenner