Driven by powerful Santa Ana winds, wildfires raged near Los Angeles, California, in mid-October 2008. Not only did the winds fan the fires’ flames, they also sent the smoke far out to sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture at 2:20 p.m. local time (21:20 UTC) on October 13, 2008. In this image, an opaque plume of smoke fans out as it blows over the Pacific Ocean, past the Channel Islands. Counter-clockwise swirls of smoke within the plume suggest shifting wind directions as the smoke moves westward. Further evidence of the Santa Ana winds’ strength appears in the south, where a faint plume of dust mimics the smoke plume’s general movement.

According to the report from the National Interagency Fire Center issued on the morning of October 14, 2008, the Sesnon fire was located 11 kilometers (7 miles) northeast of Simi Valley, while the Marek fire was located 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of San Fernando. Both fires threatened numerous structures and forced evacuations. According to the U.S. National Weather Service, strong winds were expected to continue in the area through the evening of October 15.

CNN reported that, as of October 14, at least two people had died, and the wildfires had burned more than 10,000 acres (40.5 square kilometers) in the hills of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. More than 1,400 firefighters had joined the efforts to contain the fires.

• References
• CNN. (2008, October 14). California wildfires forcing evacuations. Accessed October 14, 2008.
• Fovell, R. (2002). The Santa Ana Winds. Accessed October 14, 2008.
• U.S. National Weather Service. Red Flag Warning: Ventura County Coastal Valleys (California). Accessed October 14, 2008.
• USDA Forest Service. (2008, October 14). Incident Management Situation Report, Tuesday, October 14, 2008—0530 MDT. Incident Management Situation Report Webpage (pdf). Accessed October 14, 2008.

NASA images created by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.

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