Smoke From Distant Fires
July 09, 2002
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Summary authors & editors: Jim Foster
The above SeaWiFS satellite image was taken at noon on Sunday, July 7 and shows the smoke from fires in eastern Canada (the province of Quebec) trailing across the northeastern US. It's not only the western portions of North America that have have to deal with forest fires this summer. Fires in northern Quebec, stoked by low rainfall, high temperatures and low humidity, have destoyed thousands of acres of forests, and the resultant smoke has been ushered south on northerly winds. From the Washington DC area northward, the sky took on gray, brown or orange hues. In addition, in Montreal, New York and Philadelphia, air travel was disrupted, and some flights had to be cancelled due to the thick smoke. Westerly and southerly winds on Monday pushed much of the Canadian smoke toward the Atlantic Ocean. According to satellite meteorologist Hank Brandli, in late spring of 2001, a smoke plume from fires near this same area in Canada also covered parts of the northeastern US.
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