CIMSS Satellite Blog

GOES-13 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images, with surface reports [click to play animation]

A grass fire was first reported in western Woods County, Oklahoma around 2245 UTC or 5:45 PM local time on 22 March 2016. “Hot spot” signatures (yellow to red to black pixels) on GOES-13 (GOES-East) Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) showed that the fire proceeded to make a very fast run to the north during the overnight hours, crossing over the Kansas border into Comanche and Barber Counties. The fire eventually jumped Highway 160  — which runs west-to-east across the northern portion of those 2 counties (highways are plotted in violet) — forcing it to be closed for several hours.

A nighttime comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images at 0823 UTC or 3:23 AM local time (below) showed the hot spots and the bright glow of the large and very hot fire.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images {click to enlarge]

A sequence of Shortwave Infrared images from POES AVHRR, Terra/Aqua MODIS, and Suomi NPP VIIRS (below) provided a detailed view of the rapid northward progression of the fire during the overnight hours (aided by strong southerly winds), followed by an east/northeastward expansion during the subsequent daylight hours (driven by a switch to strong southwesterly winds after the passage of a dryline).

POES AVHRR (3.7 µm), Terra/Aqua MODIS (3.7 µm), and Suomi NPP VIIRS (3.74 µm) Shortwave Infrared images [click to enlarge]

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) images (below) revealed a large increase in smoke produced by the fire during the day on 23 March. This smoke was drawn cyclonically northeastward then northward around the circulation of a storm system that was deepening over western Kansas.

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) images, with surface reports [click to play animation]

In the early afternoon at 1748 UTC or 12:48 PM local time, a pilot report near the northern flank of the fire (below) indicated that the tops of the smoke towers were already rising to altitudes of 8000 to 11000 feet above ground level.

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) image, with surface reports and a pilot report of smoke altitude [click to enlarge]

from CIMSS Satellite Blog http://ift.tt/1WK4ruw