May 21, 2022. Natural color. (Click image for broad, high-resolution view.).
The speed and intensity of the Black fire grew rapidly, producing a pyrocumulonimbus cloud and crossing the Continental Divide, to become the second-largest fire in the state of New Mexico.
A raging new wildfire emerged in the Gila National Forest in southwest New Mexico on May 13, 2022. The state has seen majority a million acres burned this year in early season wildland fires, and forecasters predicted conditions could worsen through the end of the month.
The Black fire began burning in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Area in the Black Range, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of the city of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. On May 16, the fire exploded, tripling in size from 18,000 acres to more than 56,000 acres. A blow-up is an unexpected increase in fire intensity or rate of spread. The blow-up of the Black fire on May 16 produced a small pyrocumulonimbus cloud as the fire ran east and crossed the Continental Divide.
The blow-up of the Black fire on May 16 produced a little pyrocumulonimbus cloud as the fire ran east and crossed the Continental Divide.
These images, acquired on May 21, 2022, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, reveal the location burned by the Black fire in both natural and incorrect color. The Black fire is one of a number of big uncontained fires burning in New Mexico, consisting of the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire. As of May 23, 2022, that fire had gone beyond 300,000 acres– the biggest in state history– and was 40 percent included. New Mexico has actually had more than 300 fires so far in 2022, burning more than 580,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
May 21, 2022. Incorrect color. (Click image for broad, high-resolution view.).
As of May 22, the Black fire had burned more than 130,000 acres, ending up being the second-largest fire burning in the state. The perimeter was 8 percent included, with more than 600 firemens working the blaze.
These images, acquired on May 21, 2022, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, show the location burned by the Black fire in both natural and false color. The false-color image combines shortwave infrared, near infrared, and visible light (OLI bands 7-5-2). Near and shortwave infrared aid permeate clouds and smoke (gray-white) to expose the hotspots connected with active fires (red). With this mix, burned locations appear reddish-brown.
The Black fire is one of several big uncontained fires burning in New Mexico, including the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire. Since May 23, 2022, that fire had exceeded 300,000 acres– the biggest in state history– and was 40 percent contained. New Mexico has actually had more than 300 fires up until now in 2022, burning more than 580,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). That is almost five times as much acreage as was burned in all of 2021.
The Southwest is in the middle of a two-decade megadrought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, on May 19, a minimum of 85 percent of New Mexico was experiencing extreme to remarkable drought.
According to a Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory released by NIFC on May 18, “broadening dry spell conditions coupled with extremely hot and dry weather condition, severe wind events, and unstable atmospheric conditions have actually resulted in explosive fire behavior in the area.” In parts of Arizona and New Mexico, “conditions like this have not been seen because the mid-1950s.”.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
By Sara E. Pratt, NASA Earth Observatory
May 24, 2022
