16 June 2015

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Again)

There are two out-of-control forest fires burning to the north and south of Anchorage - miles away, but the wind carries the smoke for quite a distance.

Anchorage, this morning


The one to the north is at 7,600 acres so far, and as of last night some 1,700 homes were threatened. A few have already burned to the ground.

New Sockeye Fire map released as Parks Highway reopens
The Mat-Su Borough / Parks Highway, last night


The fire to the south, on the Kenai Peninsula, is about one-tenth that size. But things are so dry here, due to the past winter's lack of snow, that everything goes up like a torch as soon as a spark appears.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of Alaska is under a red flag warning, with fire danger "high" to "extreme", and a burn ban in place.

from www.ktuu.com


Cough, cough ... and with temps of 83 in Anchorage (and 88 in the Mat-Su) yesterday - and no rain in sight, it might not get better for awhile.

9 comments:

Well Seasoned Fool said...

My sympathies. Front Range Colorado has gone from drought to auctioning spaces on an ark.

Rev. Paul said...

We've had four or five cold-and-rainy summers in the last dozen years, but hot/dry/drought/wildfire isn't really the best alternative.

Meanwhile, WSF, keep your feet dry. I know what trench foot is like, during monsoon season. :)

Ed Bonderenka said...

It looks like that reddish orange orb is spewing out the fire.
Get rid of that and your problems are solved.
Trust me, I'm a noted climatologist.
And pope.

Old NFO said...

I'd be watching the winds... THAT will be the key! Stay safe!

Max said...

As above comment says, we have no forest fire issues this year... so far. It's going to get hot and dry like usual, soon.
Red flag warnings were never something I cared about but now.... well nightmare for my head.

Rev. Paul said...

Ed, you might be onto something there ... after all, the science is settled! :)

NFO, between the wind & last night's lightning ... sigh.

Max, that's always a problem in forested areas. A lot of folks with cabins here have clear-cut for 100 feet around their homes.

Cathy said...

On just doesn't think of Alaska and wildfires in the same sentence. Is this a cyclical thing?

Cathy said...

That was to have been "One" doesn't think . . .

Rev. Paul said...

Cathy, we have 587,000 square miles of wilderness, much of it forested. There are dozens of small-to-middlin' wildfires almost every summer, most in the Interior, from lightning strikes. In hot, dry summers - like this one - there are more, and they're bigger.