Blowing Dust from Tire Fire Burn Scar April 26, 2011

A large wildfire on April 17, 2011 as a result of a tire blow out burned roughly 17,000 acres and several homes over portions of Curry and Roosevelt Counties.   Very strong winds on April 26, 2011 lofted significant charred grass and blowing dust from the burn area into the city of Portales.  The visibility was reported between 1 and 3 miles across that area during much of the afternoon and early evening hours.   The first image shows a GOES-MODIS hybrid taken directly over the area while the fire was in progress.  No significant continuity issues were noted along the MODIS insert boundary.  The second image is the 1km MODIS IR imagery verifying the location of the burn scar evident a week later on April 24, 2011.  The final graphic is a loop of the MODIS-GOES hybrid showing the dust plume lofting off the Tire Fire into Portales on April 26, 2011 .

GOES MODIS hybrid 3.9micron

GOES-MODIS Hybrid 3.9micron 04/17/2011 1915 UTC. Note the MODIS insert directly over the Tire Fire location. No significant continuity issues are noted.

MODIS IR

The MODIS IR 04/24/2011 1916 UTC. Note the location of the burn scar one week later. This will become a source for significant blowing dust on windy days.

Visible Loop

The MODIS-GOES Hybrid Visible 04/26/2011 from 2202 UTC and 0102 UTC. Note the area of blowing dust pushing into the Portales area by late afternoon.