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Wildfire season thread

Climber said:
Good to know.

It's disappointing that the tool I posted a link to isn't totally accurate. I know that the fire satellite data doesn't update very often.
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Caltopo is a pretty good tool, and pretty accurate. The Modis/Viirs is delayed of course, but the GOES live is a pretty good indicator of activity, but not as precise. The wind gust feature is better if you zoom in and out occasionally. I've noticed it doesn't update consistently unless you trigger a refresh, and ground wind can be very different than atmospheric. They're forecasting a bit stronger winds this afternoon/tonight into tomorrow.

Regardless, the wind is so light the smoke won't clear out so aircraft can get up. That's a good and bad thing.
 
scootergmc said:
Caltopo is a pretty good tool, and pretty accurate. The Modis/Viirs is delayed of course, but the GOES live is a pretty good indicator of activity, but not as precise. The wind gust feature is better if you zoom in and out occasionally. I've noticed it doesn't update consistently unless you trigger a refresh, and ground wind can be very different than atmospheric. They're forecasting a bit stronger winds this afternoon/tonight into tomorrow.

Regardless, the wind is so light the smoke won't clear out so aircraft can get up. That's a good and bad thing.
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Thanks for the info. :thumbup

I like to keep an eye on the fires around places that friends live, I used the tool last year when we had that huge fire come within 18 miles of where I live.

It pays to keep up with these things and an accurate tool is necessary.

I've used Valley Air Quality to monitor the air quality for track practice, though recently it seems to be off. I've been using Purple Air to compare the air I'm experiencing with what they're saying.

I really like the interface of Ventusky but over time I've realized that it's better for big picture knowledge than actual local air quality.
 
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Climber said:
Thanks for the info. :thumbup

I like to keep an eye on the fires around places that friends live, I used the tool last year when we had that huge fire come within 18 miles of where I live.

It pays to keep up with these things and an accurate tool is necessary.

I've used Valley Air Quality to monitor the air quality for track practice, though recently it seems to be off. I've been using Purple Air to compare the air I'm experiencing with what they're saying.

I really like the interface of Ventusky but over time I've realized that it's better for big picture knowledge than actual local air quality.
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Yeah air quality is what it is. I never worry about that. We're all going to die.
 
Wind definitely shifted again today, after an apocalyptical sky earlier in the week, we enjoyed some blue sky over here on the East side of the mountains, but back to heavy smoke this evening.
 
Maddevill said:
I've got to say, so far we are very happy with Farmers Insurance. We had a meeting with our agent and he said there are no plans to drop insurance in fire zones. Coverage we have is excellent and rates are reasonable. After the Camp Fire, our neighbor with State Farm, was dropped after 26 years.

Mad
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I'll have to check that out if I ever get dropped. So far so good. Funny enough I ran up to Tahoe this morning to meet an hvac guy about a mini split installation (also a new normal I think) and was talking to my neighbor. She mentioned she has been dropped three years in a row and is paying $7k(!!) a year for insurance right now. I want to say she was with Farmers at one point but maybe not. I really don't want to pay those kinds of premiums.


Oh and it was surprisingly nice and then all of a sudden it got super smokey. Like 70 to 450+ in the matter of minutes.
 
The wind blowing over the Caldor fire seems to be blowing directly towards highway 50 from the hotspots, this is not a good situation. I heard last night that they had closed the highway down. That can't be good for people going to and from Tahoe.

From what I can see, Tahoe and Reno are in smoke hell right now.
 
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thedub said:
Wind definitely shifted again today, after an apocalyptical sky earlier in the week, we enjoyed some blue sky over here on the East side of the mountains, but back to heavy smoke this evening.
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Hi Wiles, :wave Yeah the videos from down there looked pretty intense.
 
They're predicting high winds today, at Caldor fire and it's mostly uphill to Tahoe.
 
Climber said:
They're predicting high winds today, at Caldor fire and it's mostly uphill to Tahoe.
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Yeah they didn't stop it from jumping 50. Such a bummer that area is burning. MET is such a cool place to get out of town and get lost in the woods for the day. Sad it's all gonna be burnt up :(
 
I climbed at Lover's Leap many times back in the 90's, stayed at the campground and sometimes Strawberry Lodge, the fire is closing in on them.
 
Generations of memories in the forest is going up in smoke.
 
Neighbors moved to Truckee two months ago. AQI was 443 there this morning; can't imagine what that looks like, let alone breathing it without a N95 mask.

Slowing getting better and now the AQI is now 163.
 
I got about 15 seconds of old stock video on network news last nite about Caldor fire.
3 minutes of flooding in Tennessee, another 4 of New England's hurricane.
I have no idea where this fire is from the news here, but I see the smoke plume with the daily weather report.
 
We had ANOTHER fire in Shingletown, about10 miles from my house. Have no idea of how this one started but I suspect stupidity was involved. They again immediately jumped on it. At least 3 air tankers and a helicopter got it out in 5 acres. I guess the tankers couldn't fly the Dixie Fire because of smoke.
Its been a stressful summer.

Mad
 
I mean, considering multiple arsonists have been arrested at this point over the last couple seasons it wouldn't surprise me if we have copy cats or just a couple more dedicated serial arsonists.
 
The Caldor fire made some significant progress towards S Lake Tahoe last night, that buffer is getting chipped away. I know that area well, that is some dense forests south of 50. The fire looks to be just 2 miles away from Strawberry Lodge and Lovers Leap campground.

Air quality in Tahoe basin is very bad.
 
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