May 15, 2014
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite detected fire activity north of San Diego, California, on May 15, 2014. MODIS also observed fires burning in the Baja California region of Mexico. Red outlines indicate hot spots where the sensor detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fires. Winds blew thick plumes of smoke west over the Pacific Ocean. As of May 16, brush fires in California had burned thousands of acres, destroyed several homes, killed at least one person, and forced thousands of people to evacuate.
References & Resources
- Cal Fire (2014, May 16) Current Fire Information. Accessed May 16, 2014.
- CNN (2014, May 16) ‘Unprecedented’ wildfires, fierce winds lead to ‘firenadoes’ in California. Accessed May 16, 2014.
- The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang (2014, May 15) Drought, heat, wind spark destructive wildfires in Southern California. Accessed May 16, 2014.
- ESRI (2014, May 16) US Wildfire Activity Public Information Map. Accessed May 16, 2014.
- Jeff Masters WunderBlog, via Weather Underground (2014, May 15) Record May Heat, Drought, and Fires Scorch California. Accessed May 16, 2014.
- The Los Angeles Times (2014, May 16) Wildfires. Accessed May 15, 2014.
- Mashable (2014, May 16) Live Updates: California Wildfires. Accessed May 16, 2014.
- Reuters (2014, May 15) Firefighters battle raging San Diego wildfires. Accessed May 16, 2014.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Caption by Adam Voiland.
