We are not the only ones wishing for rain. Wildfires have been burning for much of the month to our west. NASA’s Aqua Satellite picked up several hot spots and smoke plumes on a pass on June 19th.

Several states are dealing with several thousand acres of charred and burning land.

 

The High Park Fire in Colorado has burned over 83,000 acres (about 130 square miles), is only 45 percent contained and has destroyed 248 homes.  This photo is from the Nebraska National Guard as they dump water over portions of the fire.

The Little Sand Fire, also in Colorado, has burned around 17,000 acres and there are six other fires burning in the state making this the worst fire season in a decade for Colorado.

 

New Mexico is also having a bad year with the Little Bear Fire burning around 40,000 acres and 254 homes.  It is 90% contained.  The Whitewater Baldy Fire, also in New Mexico, has burned 297,800 acres (465 square miles) and is 87% contained.   The following photo was taken in the Gila National Forest by Kari Gree.

Native trout that had been making a comeback in the Forest had to be rescued from the local streams. Hopefully they will survive the shock of the rescue!

Heading over to Arizona, the Poco Fire is 65% contained after burning almost 12,000 acres. This picture is care of the U.S. Forest Service.

And a fire near the Nevada/Utah state line, the North Schell Fire, has burned almost 12,000 acres and is 77% contained. This photo is from WhitePineNews.com:

To my knowledge, we don’t have any wildfires in the state of Iowa right now, but we are still dry and not expecting any rain for a few days. Plus we will be getting windy and hot for the middle of the week. Keep your eyes out for any burn bans that the State Fire Marshal puts forward. It is going to be be a warm one!

Posted under Miscellaneous, NASA

From NWS
1902: Severe thunderstorms produced very strong straight-line winds across much of eastern South Dakota and extreme northwestern Iowa between midnight and 3 am on June 25th. Damage was widespread from Inwood down through Sioux Center and Hawarden to near Le Mars and Sioux City. An observer at Alta wrote that winds were of nearly hurricane force and moved some buildings off their foundations. Hundreds of barns were blown down and houses were unroofed around Larrabee and Sioux Center.

1877: A severe hail storm struck Muscatine County with a resident of the area observing that “the hailstones were large, from the size of black walnuts down. They fell in vast quantities and with great force. In one place, where there was a ravine with steep slopes on each side, they were washed down into the ravine, filling it to a depth of five feet, and they were so well preserved by the rubbish washed on to them, that some were seen a week from the time they fell, although some of the hottest days of summer intervened. I visited the place five days after they fell, and they were then two feet deep. I knew of one man whose hand was cut to the bone by a hailstone; windows were broken by the wholesale; in one house they came through the windows, rebounded from the floor, and broke a looking-glass on the opposite side of the room; the floor could not be seen for them after the storm; blinds were broken, and the paint completely knocked off the sides of the houses.”

This Day in National/World Weather History …

25 June 1960 → A tornado struck the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and destroyed the chapel and some camping facilities. 34 people were injured. 25 June 1977 → “The Human Lightning Conductor,” park ranger Roy C. Sullivan, was struck by lightning for the seventh time. He was first hit in 1942, then again in 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1976, and today in 1977. 25 June 1988 → Until this date, Erie, PA was one of the few non-mountainous spots in the lower 48 states where the temperature had never reached 100 degrees. In addition to Erie reaching 100, other record highs that were set included 101 at Rockford, IL, 103 at Chicago, 104 at South Bend, IN, 106 at Fort Wayne, IN, and 104 at Det

Posted under Weather History