San Diego and Southern California Fires

San Diego Air Quality Data

2007-10-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

The fires are out of the major San Diego metropolitan areas, but the air quality is still bad. The following link provides an hourly update on air pollution - including the 2.5 micron fire-generated particulate matter.

http://www.sdapcd.org/air/data/web_report.txt

There's alot of data there; look for the "11_PM_2_5 (UG/M3) heading. The data there provide an hourly reading on how much of the 2.5 micron fire-generated particles are still in the air. The ug/m3 means "micrograms per cubic meter".

2007-10-24T23:39:00.000-07:00

The Counties of Southern California:

2007.10.25.06.00.negative.UTC.jpg

2007.10.25.05.30.negative.UTC.jpg

2007-10-24T23:31:00.000-07:00

2007.10.24.15.00.visible.UTC.jpg

2007.10.24.15.00.UTC.jpg

2007.10.24.13.30.negative.UTC.jpg

2007.10.24.00.00.visible.UTC.jpg

2007-10-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

2007.10.23.22.45.visible.UTC.jpg

2007.10.23.21.00UTC.jpg

2007.10.23.17.30UTC.jpg

2007-10-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

2007.10.23.16.00UTC.negative.jpg

2007.10.23.15.00UTC.negative

2007.10.23.14.00UTC: Sunrise.

Google Earth kmz file Overlay

2007-10-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

I noticed that the timestamps on the lat/lon points from the Google Earth kmz file were all the same (and stale); I believe that it can only be upadated when the satellite passes overhead (in a polar orbit?). The position data is only valid for infrequent snapshots of fire position.

A fire map overlay for Google Earth:

2007-10-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/kml/conus.kmz

2007-10-22T22:48:00.001-07:00

5:00am UTC

3:30am UTC

2:00am UTC

2007-10-22T16:59:00.001-07:00

23:00

22:00

21:00

20:30

Fire update (GMT times)

2007-10-22T16:55:00.001-07:00

20:00

19:00

18:30

The last two hours

2007-10-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

1800

1730

1700

1630

1600

kpbs.org has created a site utilizing Google Maps

2007-10-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

http://tinyurl.com/37dvp2

Back to Fog View

2007-10-22T08:49:00.001-07:00

I don't know what the "sunrise transient" was. But now, both the heat and the smoke plumes are visible.

From "Fog" View to "Visible" View

2007-10-22T07:53:00.001-07:00

Now that the sun is up, the smoke plumes blowing west are visible.

2007-10-22T07:42:00.001-07:00

The "hotspot" (fog) view is being swamped by the heat generated by sunrise.

2007-10-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

The evacuation announcements cover over 60 square miles for the Witch fire alone. The agencies are begging the public to evacuate the areas bounded by I-15, I-5, Highway 56, and Del Dios Hwy.

The Harris fire continues

2007-10-22T06:06:00.001-07:00

The Witch Creek fire in northern San Diego County appears to have doubled in size in the last 6 1/2 hours. Interstate I-15 has been closed between Escondido and Rancho Bernardo, and the evacuation orders continue for those in the path (west) of the fire.

The Santa Ana wind warnings are in effect throughout the day.

2007-10-21T23:25:00.001-07:00

(click on image for magnified view)

2007-10-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a direct link to the NOAA / National Weather Service Satellite Image page for San Diego & Southern California. The Fog map shows the fire locations:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/sat/satellite.php

2007-10-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

A map of the counties of Southern California.

2007-10-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

2007-10-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

2007-10-21T22:01:00.001-07:00

2007-10-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

Looks like the satellite image is updating every 30 minutes, but there's at least a half-hour lag.

2007-10-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

This animated link (not sure how long it will last) shows the "Santa Ana" winds from the desert push the coastal moisture off shore; the Witch Creek fire in northern San Diego County can be seen flaring during the animation.

http://tinyurl.com/3c66d9

Satellite image of San Diego fires

2007-10-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

I'm listening to the radio now, as the community of Ramona (San Diego County) is being evacuated. Ten thousand people are being ordered to evacuate now; I think that about 4K people have been evacuated from two regions in San Diego County in the last eight hours.

This image is a satellite feed from NOAA.