An animation of natural and false-color images acquired by NASA's Terra satellite on Saturday reveal different aspects of the Sand Fire burning north of Los Angels. The natural-color image shows a towering smoke plume from the fire. In the false-color image, orange tones show areas of active burning. (Images: NASA Worldview. Animation: Tom Yulsman)
Update:
As of Sunday morning, 7/24, the Sand Fire north of Los Angeles has scorched approximately 22,000 acres, a doubling in size since yesterday; it is just 10 percent contained. The Soberanes Fire on the California coast near Carmel has grown to 10,262 acres, up from 6,500 acres yesterday. It's just 5 percent contained. Hot, dry and windy weather is fanning the flames of two California wildfires this evening, one just north of Los Angeles and the other near Carmel. The Sand Fire north of Los Angeles in the Santa Clarita area, seen in the animation above, has consumed at least 11,000 acres. That number will almost certainly grow in the coming hours. Earlier today I posted an astonishing timelaspe video of the Sand Fire, shot last night by Mo Sabawi. Check it out here: Amazing time-lapse video of the Sand Fire now blazing in northern Los Angeles County Nearly a thousand people, 70 fire engines, nine helicopters, 36 hand crews, and five bulldozers, have been laboring in high temperatures to try to contain that blaze, which as I'm writing this on Saturday evening (July 23) is only 10 percent contained, according to the most recent report from InciWeb. https://twitter.com/LACoFireAirOps/status/756853772463112192 Meanwhile, the Soberanes Fire is raging five miles south of Garrapata State Park near Carmel Highlands. Almost 800 personnel, 56 fire engines and 15 bulldozers are working this blaze, which so far has consumed 6,500 acres. It's only 5 percent contained. https://twitter.com/tuony/status/756967830717739008 Here's an animation of natural- and false-color satellite images of that blaze:
The Soberanes Fire near Carmel, California, as seen in natural and false-color images acquired by NASA's Terra satellite on Saturday. In the false-color view, orange tones are indicative of active burning. The Monterey Peninsula and Monterey Bay are visible north of the fire. The Big Sur coast is to the south and east. (Images: NASA Worldview. Animation: Tom Yulsman) Unfortunately, hot temperatures pushing up to 97 degrees are forecast for the Santa Clarita area on Sunday. To make things worse, wind gusts up to 20 mph are also expected. That can contribute to extreme fire behavior. Cooler temperatures in the 60s are forecast for the area around the Soberanes Fire. Even so, dry conditions and wind gusts up to 20 miles per hour could complicate fire-fighting efforts.
