September 17, 2020 - Hurricane Sally and Smoke from West Coast Wildfires

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   Hurricane Sally and Smoke from West Coat Wildfires
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   The year 2020 will be remembered as a time of extremes, especially in
   the United States. Not only has the country grappled with a pandemic
   and political divisions, but also with record-setting fire and
   hurricane seasons.

   A summer of record-setting heat on the West Coast – Death Valley,
   California set a record for the highest temperature ever recorded on
   Earth in August – left vegetation crisp and dry, ready to ignite at any
   spark. By mid-August, a siege of more than 1,000 lightning strikes
   caused fires across California and, to a lesser extent, sparked fires
   in Washington and Oregon. Strong, downslope winds and low humidity
   stoked small fires, turning them into blazing infernos. According to
   Cal Fire, five of the 20 largest fires in the state’s history have
   occurred since August, with the August Complex taking the number one
   position, with 796,651 acres burned, 26 structures destroyed, and 1
   death as of September 16. Two of the current wildfires also made the
   list of California’s top 20 most deadly fires: The North Complex (22
   dead) and LNU Lightning Complex with 5 killed. Washington registered
   its largest fire in history, the Cold Springs Canyon/Pearl Hill Fires,
   which has burned more than 400,000 acres. Likewise, Oregon reports its
   most destructive fire season on record, with more than 930,000 acres
   burnt and several towns destroyed. By September 15, smoke from these
   fires stretched over the entire United States, reaching the Atlantic
   Ocean.

   While hot, dry weather ushered in the incredibly destructive West Coast
   fire season, the Atlantic Hurricane season was setting records for wet,
   windy storms. On September 14, the National Hurricane Center was
   reporting five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin – only the
   second time in history that there have been five or more cyclones
   spinning simultaneously in this region. As of September 16, the 2020
   season is tied with 1933 as the second most active on record, with 20
   named storms, ranking only behind 2005, when there were 28 named storms
   in the entire season. Out of the 20 storms, 17 were the earliest
   occurring for their number. Tropical Storm Vicky, the 20th storm of the
   season, formed on September 14, beating the previous formation date for
   the 20th storm by 21 days.

   On September 15, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging
   Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a
   true-color image of Hurricane Sally approaching the Gulf Coast as
   leading rain bands from the storm approach a broad band of smoke from
   the West Coast wildfires.

   Sally made landfall at 5:45 a.m. EDT (0945 UTC) on September 16 near
   Gulf Shores, Alabama. According to the National Hurricane Center, the
   storm was carrying maximum sustained winds of about 104 mph (167.4
   km/h) at landfall. That would place it as a Category 2 storm on the
   Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

   The slow-moving, drenching storm is a record-setter itself. Forming on
   September 12, it was the earliest-forming “S”- (18th-) named storm on
   record. The previous early storm was Stan, which formed on October 4,
   2005. According to a meteorologist with Colorado State University,
   Sally is the 8th named storm to make landfall in the continental US
   (CONUS) in 2020, marking the most CONUS landfalls on record by
   September 16. The previous record was 7 named storms and was set in
   1916.

   By the evening of September 16, Sally had been downgraded to a tropical
   storm, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (72.4 km/h) and was
   located over southeastern Alabama. It is predicted to continue to
   weaken as it moves inland. With up to 30 inches of rain and extensive
   flooding reported in some locations, the National Weather Service
   states “historic and catastrophic flooding, including widespread
   moderate-to-major riving flooding, is unfolding along and just inland
   from west of Tallahassee, Florida to Mobile Bay, Alabama. Significant
   and widespread flooding is expected across inland portions of Alabama,
   central Georgia and upstate South Carolina, and widespread flooding is
   possible across western/central North Carolina and far southeast
   Virginia.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 9/15/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (564.9 KB),  500m (3.2 MB),
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-09-17
 
