Smoke from Siberia wildfires reaches Western Washington and New England – More than 1200 square miles of forest is on fire – “The taiga is burning”

Desdemona Despair

By Cliff Mass
30 July 2018

(Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog) – The smoke is back over western Washington and it is about to get worse, as California wildfire smoke pushes northward over our area.

This morning’s sunrise clearly showed a smoke layer, with the reddish glow so familiar from last summer’s sunrises and sunsets. […]

Most of the of smoke has not been local, but rather came from huge fires over Siberia! Here is a satellite image from five days ago, showing the smoke moving southwards towards us. Perhaps Trump can talk to Putin about it. […]

Last night’s run of the NOAA HRRR-smoke forecasting system predicted that a significant slug of California smoke will soon reach us.  Here are the smoke forecasts for 7 AM and 5 PM today –  substantial smoke is moving northward – particularly bad in Oregon, where sunsets will be very red. [more]

Smoke Reaches Western Washington

13 July 2018 (The Siberian Times) – Dramatic new pictures show the latest forest infernos as reports come from the US that wildfire smoke from Siberia has blown some 5,000 miles to New England.

This comes as clouds are being spiked with chemicals in Yakutia to provoke rain to extinguish flames – and amid claims from environmentalists that the scale of forest fires has been hidden by the authorities.

In the US, Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist Eric Elwell was quoted saying: “Strong winds aloft in the polar jet stream carried some of the smoke from the fires across the Bering Strait and into northern Alaska, then southeastward into central Canada and eventually across the Great Lakes and eastward into southern New England.”

The Weather Channel illustrated a report on the problem with a graphic infra-red picture from a Sentinel 2 satellite image taken more than two months ago – on 9 May 2018 – over Zeya Reservoir in Amur region.

Presumably the smoke reaching the US is from more recent blazes, but the trail to North America highlights the problems of wildfires – some engulfing ancient boreal forests – in Siberia and the Russian Far East.

In dramatic aerial pictures from civil aviation pilot Vitalij Boykov over Vanavara and Tura as well as Boguchansky district in Krasnoyarsk region – currently one of the hotspots.

He posted: “The taiga is burning. This is Vanavara, Tura, (and) Boguchansky district. The wind carries all this towards the city, so don’t blame authorities or factories.

“No rain is expected, so we’ll keep breathing this smoke in.” […]

Latest reports show 27 fires across Krasnoyarsk region covering 8,682 hectares in. Areas potentially threatening settlements. Elsewhere in zones where the authorities are not obliged to fight flames because of no danger to people some 125 fires were burning covering 321,255 hectares [1,240 square miles]. [more]

Concern over raging wildfires as smoke from Siberia crosses Alaska and Canada, reaching New England