July 16 - 16, 2013JPEG

July 16 - 16, 2013TIFF

Google Earth - July 16 - 16, 2013KMZ

On July 16, 2013, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of the Mountain fire burning through chaparral in southern California. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fire.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, as of July 17, 2013, a total of 2,057,548 acres (832,660 hectares) had burned during the 2013 wildfire season in the United States. Over the past ten years, the average number of U.S. acres burned by mid-July was 3,341,173 acres (1,352,125 hectares).

1. Further Reading

2. Inciweb (2013, July 17) Mountain fire. Accessed July 17, 2013.
3. Los Angeles Times (2013, July 17) Mountain fire near Idyllwild destroys 6 homes, burns 14,000 acres. Accessed July 17, 2013.
4. National Interagency Fire Center (2013, July 17) Year-to-date Statistics. Accessed July 17, 2013.
5. NBC News (2013, July 17) California wildfire spreads after forcing evacuation of Camp Ronald McDonald. Accessed July 17, 2013.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Adam Voiland.