Suomi-NPP Satellite Sees Smoke from the Colby Fire

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite captured this visible image of smoke from California’s Colby Fire on January 16 at 20:29 UTC/3:29 p.m. EST.
The smoke was blowing to the southwest over the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

According to Inciweb, the multi-agency fire Incident Information System, the fire began around 6 a.m. PST, and by today, January 17, over 1,709 acres had been consumed. The fire is 30 percent contained as of this morning. A Red Flag Warning remains in effect on Friday, January 17 due to a Santa Ana wind event. The steep slopes in the area make for added difficultly in the firefighting effort, according to Inciweb.

Image Credit: the JPSS and NASA Active Fire team at NOAA/NESDIS/Star and the University of Maryland, in cooperation with NASA LandPEATE and the US Forest Service. Larger image