Monthly Archives: June 2013

Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona

The Yarnell Hill Fire (InciWeb) was a relatively small wildfire that was started by lightning from a dry thunderstorm southwest of Prescott, Arizona on 28 June 2013. However, fire conditions became more favorable for rapid growth on 30 June, as surface air  temperatures rose above 100 F across the area with low relative humidity values. […]

West Fork fire complex: pyrocumulonimbus penetration of existing cumulonimbus clouds

McIDAS images of 1-km resolution GOES-15 (GOES-West) and GOES-13 (GOES-East) 0.63 µm visible channel data (above; click image to play animation) showed a pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud from the West Fork fire complex rapidly penetrating the tops of surrounding orographically-induced cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds, beginning around 20:10 UTC or 2:10 PM local time on 28 June 2013. […]

PyroCB from Silver, New Mexico Fire June 27, 2013

The Silver Fire continued to burn on June 27, 2013 in Southwestern New Mexico.  GOES-13  0.63 micrometer visible imagery (above, left panel; click image to play) show a smoke plume erupting from the desert during the late morning and early afternoon hours of the 27th.  After the smoke plume is evident, a large pyrocumulonimbus forms […]

June 26, 2013 West Fork, Colorado Fire and PyroCB

The West Fork Fire continued to burn on June 26, 2013 in South Central Colorado.  This fire had its origins three weeks earlier on June 5, 2013.  GOES-13  0.63 micrometer visible imagery (above, left panel; click image to play) show a smoke plume erupting from the mountain fire during the early afternoon hours of the […]

Large fire in southeastern Quebec

A large fire was burning in southeastern Quebec (centered near 51.6 N latitude, 66.2 W longitude) on 22 June 2012. A comparison of 1-km resolution GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel and 4-km resolution 3.9 µm shortwave IR channel images (above; click image to play animation) showed the development of a very large smoke plume, as […]

PyroCb over Siberia on 22 June 2013

On 22 June 2013, a cluster of wildfires occurred across a large region in Siberia.  These fires were centered at approximately 63 N 115 E, and were quite vigorous in their smoke production. This activity was enhanced by the presence of strong updrafts that developed with the fires throughout the day. This activity is noticeable […]