September 4, 2009
Fires in Southern California Continue / Good to Moderate Conditions for the Rest of the United States
The large fires in Los Angeles continued today. The Terra MODIS true color image with AQI values for today at 19:00 PST shown in Google Earth with AQI (below) show the smoke from the fires. Ozone levels to the east of the fire have been affected. A Code Red (Unhealthy) Ozone level is shown near San Bernardino, CA, along with Code Orange (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) Ozone levels in Victorville, Hesperia, and Banning, CA.
The Terra MODIS AOD image for Region 9 (below) shows very high AOD values in the area of the large fire. Officials say the Los Angeles fire was caused by arson. You can read more here.
NOAA's Hazard Mapping System (HMS) reported smoke from central CA to southern CA where the Los Angeles fires are located. Smoke is also reported over the Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, northern Illinois, Iowa, North and South Dakota) and central Canada over Ontario and Manitoba (as shown in the HMS map below). The MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program's large incident map reports the fires in southern CA as well as fires in UT, CO, OR, WA, MT here.
PM2.5 levels (bottom left, courtesy of AIRNow) in southern CA were primarily Code Yellow (Moderate), with one area near the fires reporting Code Orange (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) and another area in the bottom of CA reporting Code Red (Unhealthy). Code Green (Good) PM2.5 levels (top left, courtesy of AIRNow) dominated much of the rest of the United States. The Midwest was mainly dominated by Code Yellow PM2.5 levels. A Code Orange level was reported in Minnesota. Ozone levels (bottom right, courtesy of AIRNow) were Code Green in most of the U.S. with scattered Code Yellow levels in the eastern half of the US. Code Orange levels were reported in central and southern CA, particularly in and around the fires, and also in southern NC.
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