Sunday, September 13, 2015

Smoke from California Fires

The past few days have been beautiful in northern Utah, but a shift in the flow late yesterday and overnight has brought a return of smoke to the Salt Lake Valley.

Below is a comparison of yesterday morning (top) and this morning (bottom).  Things aren't too bad yet, but there's been a noticeable decline in visibility between the two days.



The primary source of the smoke appears to be California, although we may have some from Oregon or Idaho mixed in just for good measure.  The MODIS image below shows the leading edge pushing into northern Utah late yesterday.


Dealing with a little smoke is a minor inconvenience for us.  One California fire, the Butte Fire, has grown rapidly from 100 acres on Wednesday to 65,000 acres this morning with 132 structures destroyed.

1 comment:

  1. Professor, your blog is first explanation of the source of the Sunday smoke I've found. My regular weather sources were silent on the matter. Thank you.

    I spent the day outside on a garden project, acutely aware of the quality of light.

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