News and opinion about wildland fire
The National Weather Service has posted Red Flag Warnings or Fire Weather Watches for areas in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, and Kentucky.
The map was current as of 9:45 a.m. MT on Thursday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts and maps.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Wildfire smoke forecast for November 17, 2016 Above: In this satellite photo taken during the afternoon of November 16, smoke from wildfires is clearly visible in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Smoke from wildfires in the South continues to drift across Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
When the Air Quality Index (AQI) is between 101 and 150 due to smoke (the brown color in the AirNow map below) persons with heart and lung disease, older adults, and children are at greater risk. If the AQI is 151 to 200 (red in the map below) according to AirNow everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
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Many of our readers in the comments sections are asking about the smoke conditions in various locations. Keep in mind that the distribution of smoke is entirely dependant on the location of the fires and the wind direction. A large fire may affect areas in almost any direction if the wind blows it that way. For instance, it can be clear in Gatlinburg, TN one day and the next day it can be smoky.
It can be difficult to predict the impacts of smoke more than a day or two into the future. For one thing, exact wind direction and speed are hard to forecast accurately. And fire activity is even trickier to predict. New fires can break out, older ones can run out of fuel, and the effectiveness of firefighters can vary.
As you can see in the image above, at Atlanta the most common wind directions during November of 2012 were from the northwest and east, but other directions are also represented.
For the latest articles at Wildfire Today about how smoke from the wildfires is affecting various locations in the South, check out the articles tagged “smoke”.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized3 Comments on Update on six wildfires in the South, November 16, 2016 Above: The map shows the locations of some of the larger wildfires currently burning in Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia.
Firefighters continue to battle dozens of fires in the southern United States while the residents in the area try to figure out how to live with the smoke.
Fire managers are hoping for a break in the weeks-long dry period, but through Friday at least they should expect more of the same. However there is a chance for rain on Saturday.
Here we will look at six of the larger fires in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Party Rock Fire
The Party Rock Fire has been burning just north of Lake Lure, North Carolina since November 5. It has blackened 4,480 acres, an increase of 736 acres, and forced evacuations at Bat Cave and residences on the east side of Hwy 9. In recent days it has been most active on the north and southwest sides.
Rock Mountain Fire
The Rock Mountain Fire has burned 6,747 acres in the northeast corner of Georgia, an increase of 1,263 acres over the previous 24 hours primarily on the northeast and west sides. The Type 1 Incident Management Team reports that 75 structures are threatened, but none have been destroyed.
Continue reading “Update on six wildfires in the South, November 16, 2016”
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Washington DC affected by wildfire smoke Above: A view of Washington DC late Tuesday afternoon, apparently showing visibility degraded by smoke from wildfires. Credit: EarthCam.
Satellite photos show smoke from wildfires stretching out into the Atlantic Ocean. It appears that the air quality in Washington, DC was affected on Tuesday afternoon.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized9 Comments on Wildfire smoke forecast for Tuesday, November 15 Above: Smoke from wildfires in the southern United States as photographed by a NASA satellite Tuesday afternoon, November 15, 2016; updated late Tuesday afternoon.
We checked several resources for predictions of where smoke from the wildfires in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia will be distributed on Tuesday. It looks like much of Georgia and South Carolina will be heavily affected, with concentrations in some areas of South Carolina reaching the “Very Unhealthy” level according to the animated map below.
Some areas in the midwest appear to be affected by smoke that blew in from fires in Canada.
Arkansas, Louisiana, and eastern Texas are also heavily contributing to the smoky skies.
Check AirNow.gov for current air quality information. Click on their map to zoom in for a closer look.
An air quality index of 201 to 300 is “Very Unhealthy”.
#Smoke forecast for the next 24 hrs. #ncwx #scwx #cltwx #wildfire pic.twitter.com/WvYrbnvOSi
— Brad Panovich (@wxbrad) November 15, 2016
Continue reading “Wildfire smoke forecast for Tuesday, November 15”
.@NSWRFS Camera captures fire intensity and ember showers causing spot fires as well as impact on homes at yesterday's Londonderry fire pic.twitter.com/mbAzo5q7zK
— Shane Fitzsimmons (@RFSCommissioner) November 14, 2016
Impressive video from New South Wales in Australia.
