October 12, 2021
Chaparral shrublands and strong winds are fueling the fast-moving fire.
For much of summer 2021, big fires decimated forests in Northern California. By the middle of October, those fires were primarily extinguished or burned out, however red-flag cautions and fierce fires had actually started to trigger issues in the chaparral shrublands and grasslands of Southern California.
On October 13, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite recorded this image of the Alisal fire northwest of Santa Barbara. Strong northern winds pressed plumes of smoke over the Pacific Ocean.
After igniting near the Alisal tank on October 11, the fast-moving blaze charred 13,400 acres (54 square kilometers) by the afternoon of October 13. At that time, the fire was 5 percent consisted of. With the blaze threatening a minimum of 100 structures, authorities have issued evacuation orders and closed parts of Highway 101.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, utilizing MODIS information from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview.
By Adam Voiland, NASA Earth Observatory
October 14, 2021