Here’s What California’s Thick Blanket of Wildfire Smoke Looks Like From Orbit

NASA’sModerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer , or MODIS , record what ’s befall on the surface of the Earth every 24-hour interval or two . That means enter dust storms , hurricane , typhoon — and , as was the fount this workweek , athick bed of smoke over California .

This image was captured on Monday , and show brown smoke drifting over the coastline of northerly California — where multiple fires are burn right now . Most of these fire were caused not by humans , but by lightning strikes on July 30th , concord toInciWeb . How can a state encrust by drought have so much lightning?Accordingto theCalifornia Weather blog , thunderstorms cause by “ upper - spirit level ” moisture over the Pacific dribble a bantam piece of wet but enough lightning to goad many , many new fervor . It ’s an ill-starred even for a state already struggling with wildfire season .

NASA actually maintains a specific situation dedicate to images of “ Fire & Smoke , ” pulling high - ray satellite data on area of the West Coast and the reality at large from MODIS . you’re able to check it outhere .

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