With dry and breezy conditions across large portions of the northwest US, wildfire activity has been ramping up in recent weeks. Yesterday (8/1), multiple ongoing wildfires exploded during the daytime hours, producing large smoke plumes. A GOES-16 RGB (hotspot, smoke, burn scar) discussed in previous posts captured the hotspots and smoke plumes well (Figure 1).

Figure 1: 01 August 2017 GOES-16 hotspot/smoke/scar RGB. Full res: https://satelliteliaisonblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/20170801_wildfire_rgb1_final_anno.gif

– Bill Line, NWS

“The GOES-16 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational data and are undergoing testing. Users bear all responsibility for inspecting the data prior to use and for the manner in which the data are utilized.”