September 12, 2022 - Smoke Shrouds the Sawtooth Range and Salmon River Mountains

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On September 9, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of
multiple blazes pouring smoke across Central Idaho. Each red “hot spot”
marks an area where the thermal bands on the instrument detected high
temperatures indicative of actively-burning fire. Smoke pours from
several fires at the western edge of the Sawtooth Range and is blown
westward by strong winds. In the rest of the Sawtooth Range and in the
Salmon River Mountains, smoke seeps into the low-lying valleys,
creating a shroud so thick that it obscures the valley floors from
view. A thinner pall also lies over the high elevations and stretches
southward over Sun Valley and the Craters of the Moon National Monument
as well as southwestward over Boise.

The primary sources of the dense, choking smoke likely comes from local
Idaho blazes, but many of the other conflagrations burning across the
Western United States add to the thick haze. According to the National
Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) on September 9, at least 96 large fires
were burning on 690,000 acres (2800 square kilometers) in eight states.
Many of the fires were clustered in the Northern Rockies, the Great
Basin, and the Pacific Northwest, with 37 burning in Idaho, 22 in
Montana, 12 apiece in Oregon and Washington, and 10 in California.

When smoke is captured by the wind, it can rise high in the atmosphere
and travel long distances, sometimes avoiding creating significant
hazard at ground level. When the winds are quiet and smoke drops close
to the ground, the particulate matter and gases in the smoke can create
health hazards for both humans and animals, as well as dirtying cars,
houses, and the landscape. Comments from residents of Idaho, posted on
social media, noted the effects. On the US National Weather Service
Boise Idaho Facebook Page, one person stated, “I’ve got such a headache
from it…there is NO WHERE to get out of it.” Another shared, “Smoke is
everywhere I’ve been…My voice is getting raspy.” The statement that
seemed to sum up both the smoke and fire season best was a heartfelt
lament, “Ugh, it feels like it’s never going to end”.

According to the U.S. Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response
Program, air quality on the evening of September 7 in the Salmon area
reached an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 385, which is ranked as
Hazardous, due to smoke. The highest AQI recorded at the same station
on September 9 reached 295, which is ranked as Very Unhealthy. Air
quality has improved since that date, but, because the inversion which
has trapped the smoke near ground level has failed to break, the air
quality forecast in the Salmon area is anticipated to be “Unhealthy for
Sensitive Groups” over the next several days. The improvement is
attributed to the anticipated appearance of gusting winds that should
help move smoke away from ground level.

Image Facts
Satellite:
Date Acquired: 9/9/2022
Resolutions: 1km (34.2 KB), 500m (108.7 KB), 250m (312.9
KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-09-12

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