EnvirocastTM TV for Monday October 27, 2003 - PM Edition

Fires in Southern California - Update

Background

  

Images
The images were taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA's Aqua satellite. They show fires in Southern California on October 27 2003.

Unhealthy air in the Los Angeles Region

For the latest air quality information please visit the EPA AirNow site

Zoomed out image on October 27:

TV Ready Images - Full annotation:       NTSC 720x486     NTSC 640x480

- No annotations:       NTSC 720x486     NTSC 640x480

 

Los Angeles zoom in on October 27:

TV Ready Images - Full annotation:       NTSC 720x486     NTSC 640x480

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Environmental Impacts:

  • President Bush declares four Southern California counties federal disaster areas.

  • This is California’s deadliest outbreak of fires in more than a decade.

  • Over a dozen people have been killed and about 30,000 homes were endangered and more than 825 already have been destroyed by the fires driven by warm Santa Ana winds. All of the fatalities happened since Saturday.

  • The Santa Ana wind season usually stretches from September through February, with October usually the strongest.

  • The fires have consumed more that 330,000 acres, or 500 square miles- almost half the size of the state of Rhode Island – of dense, dry brush and trees.

  • More than 7,000 firefighters have been battling the spreading flames.

  • Wildfires driven by the hot Santa Ana winds flared into gigantic waves of flames that devoured entire neighborhoods, choking the sky over Southern California with smoke and ash.

  • From the Mexican border to the suburbs north of Los Angeles, large sections were under siege by six major fires and several smaller ones. The death toll was the state’s worst since the 1991 fire in the Oakland hills of Alameda County the killed 25 and destroyed more that 3,200 homes and apartments.

  • Airline travel was disrupted, major highways blocked and some schools were closed.

  • Santa Ana winds continue over southern California as a high pressure spreads over the West. These winds will diminish on Tuesday. A new frontal system will drop down from Canada into the Dakotas.

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    Image NTSC 720x486 031027a_01_tva.jpg shows Southern California on October 27, 2003.Full annotations.  
    Image NTSC 720x486 031027a_02_tva.jpg October 27, same as above without annotations. No annotations.
     

     

    Image NTSC 720x486 031027a_03_tva.jpg Zoom into Los Angeles  October 27, . Full annotations.
    Image NTSC 720x486 031027a_04_tva.jpg  October 27, 2003, same as above. No annotations.  
     

     

    Image credit: NWS

    		 Image NTSC 720x486 031027a_05_tva.jpg October 27, digital camera picture taken in San Diego. The image is taken from
    the NWS weather office looking to the SE this afternoon (10/27/03).

     
     

     

     

    Image NTSC 640x480 031027b_01_tva.jpg shows Southern California on October 27, 2003.Full annotations.  
    Image NTSC 640x480 031027b_02_tva.jpg October 27, same as above without annotations. No annotations.
     

     

    Image NTSC 640x480 031027b_03_tva.jpg Zoom into Los Angeles  October 27, . Full annotations.
    Image NTSC 640x480 031027b_04_tva.jpg  October 27, 2003, same as above. No annotations.  
     

     

    Image credit: NWS

    		 Image NTSC 640x480 031027b_05_tva.jpg October 27, digital camera picture taken in San Diego. The image is taken from
    the NWS weather office looking to the SE this afternoon (10/27/03).

     
     

     

    Related Envirocasts:

    October 27, 2003 - Fires in Southern California

    October 9, 2003 - Air Quality Forecasts Now Available Year-round

     

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