November 12, 2020 - Snow over California Fires

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   Snow over California Fires
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   After a blistering-hot summer filled with drought and a ferocious fire
   season resulting in more than 4 million acres burned, the state of
   California felt the first hint of relief as substantial snow and rain
   fell in early November. On November 8, the National Weather Service
   warned of severe weather across the Sierra Nevada mountains, expecting
   2-7 inches of snow to drop in the first snowfall of the winter. They
   also issued a freeze warning for the Sacramento Valley on that same
   day.

   On November 9, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of
   a fresh blanket of snow across the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In a
   refreshing change of pace, the eight red hot spots (each marking an
   actively burning fire) seen on the Terra MODIS image on November 5 were
   no longer detected and —for the first time in months—this section of
   the Sierra Nevada appeared free of smoke.

   The NASA Worldview App makes it easy to view roll-over comparisons of
   images acquired by the MODIS instrument over the same area on different
   days. To view the change between an image of the Sierra Nevada by
   Terra’s Modis on November 5 and November 9, click  here.

   While the fresh snow and chill temperatures have been helpful in fire
   suppression efforts, the fires have not been put out entirely.
   According to the U.S.D.A Creek Fire Morning Update published on
   November 10, the winter storm had dumped up to a foot of snow in parts
   of the High Sierras. Although the morning brought clear skies, the
   temperatures overnight had dipped into the single digits. The snow,
   which fell at areas above 4,000 feet on November 9, was accompanied by
   an inch of rain at lower elevations. While it suppressed fire activity,
   the snow and cold temperatures also brought dangerous driving
   conditions, making it difficult for firefighters to reach some areas.
   Aerial reconnaissance flights with infrared equipment confirmed
   lingering heat and smoke in the northeast corner of the Creek Fire. The
   Incident Fire Behavior Analyst, Bryon Kimball, was quoted as saying “A
   foot of snow is nice, but it’s not that much precipitation, maybe an
   inch. Until we get 5 or 6 inches of (precipitation) and get that
   moisture to penetrate those heavy fuels, we’re going to see smoke
   produced. At this point, it’s just a matter of letting those heavy
   fuels burn out.”

   As of November 11, the Creek Fire has burned 379,802 acres and is
   reported at 70% contained. When viewing the November 5 image on NASA
   Worldview App, the Creek Fire can be seen as the largest red thermal
   anomaly (hot spot) that gives rise to copious gray smoke blowing
   westward and down the west slope of the Sierra Nevada.

   The NASA Worldview app provides a satellite's perspective of the planet
   as it looks today and as it has in the past through daily satellite
   images. Worldview is part of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and
   Information System. EOSDIS makes the agency's large repository of data
   accessible and freely available to the public.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 11/9/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (62.8 KB),  500m (230.8 KB),  250m (729.7
   KB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-11-12
 
