VISIT: Meteorological Interpretation Blog

(Courtesy NASA/MODIS/TERRA - July 26, 2008)

Currently, California has 26 fire incidents…mostly across the northern half of the state.  Fourteen of these fires are considered large at the moment (= or > 100 acres…see following map).

To date (this fire season - through July 30, 2008), over 750,000 acres of California have burned. Most of the current fires started as a result of lightning strikes between June 20th and June 28th…with a couple of them going back to the last week in May!  Several thousand firefighters from across the country have been deployed to the region over the last couple of months, with additional fire specialists from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also helping out.  Many Incident Meteorologists are also working these fires this summer.  Check out this recent visible image loop that shows the region between the evening of July 29th and through the morning of the 30th. For more information on these fires as well as others across the country, please go to these sites:  http://gacc.nifc.gov/oncc/, http://www.nifc.gov/, and http://www.inciweb.org/ .

Volcanoes, particularly volcanic ash, are major concerns to many of us in meteorology.  While the physical presence of the mountain and the energy expended during an eruption can be quite enormous, dangerous, and both life and property threating,  the atmospheric discharge of ash can also be a major hazard to aviation as well as the local health communities.

The recent eruption of Okmok (1st eruption - July 12) volcano in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands has garnered some recent press in the USA which started as recently as July 12, 2008 (see photo above - courtesy NOAA).  Days later (July 17th) part of the plume was seen coming into our own Pacific Northwest (CIMMS blog).  However, there have been many other important eruptions around the world which have already impacted the lives of many and continue threaten many more.  The Chaitin Volcano in Chili is a good example (see photos from National Geographic here).  Below are links to many of the volcano centers around the world, including their most recent and active volcanoes:

Anchorage Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (Okmok - Alaska, USA);  Buenos Aires VAAC (Ubinas - Peru); Darwin VAAC (Rabaul - New Britain); Tokyo VAAC (Sakurajima - Japan); Toulouse VAAC (Sete Cidades - Azores); Washington VAAC (Tungurahua - Ecuador).

Other important links which include volcanic (ash) eruption concerns:

Alaska Aviation Weather Unit; and NOAA/NWS Aviation Weather Center �