Smoke Impact Summary #8 Soberanes Wildfire
Air Basin: North Center Coast CAL
Fire IMT 4 w/ USFS
Issued for August 5th, 2016 Prepared
by: Gary M. Curcio ARA
Time 9:35 PM Steve
Fraidenburg ARA (T)
Fire Status & Key Points:
1.
Total fire acreage has been adjusted today at 53,726 acres.
2.
Yesterday burnout operations expanded estimated growth by 2,719 acres.
3.
Projected smoke emission impact for Friday August 6th is estimated at 2,500 acres this includes:
a.
1,000 acres for the Burnout operations on
the east and southwest sides.
b.
750 acres free burning on the southern fire perimeter (near Uncle Sam
Mtn)
c.
750 acres free burning where the fire crossed the South Fork of Little
Sur
4. Extended
Outlook: “future smoke emission acreage” is now estimated at 53,320
acres. This figure includes 13,000 acres previously stated when the fire
crossed the South Fork of Little Sur.
5. The
weather today delayed burnout operations until late afternoon. The weather will
have a similar impact facilitating degraded AQ in the Salinas Valley.
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Greenfield: during the daylight hours 8/5. AQ fluctuated from Moderate to Unhealthy.
The present view is from Walnut Street due West. The ridge line is barely
visible and is approximately 8 miles. AQ PM 2.5 readings varied from 13 to
83 µ ⁄ m³.
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6.
IR Fire Perimeter & Modis Heat Signatures 8/5 at 7:15 PM
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The Photo below identifies active burning on the fire’s SE corner where a major burnout
operation is completed. Dressing up continues. Burnout operation was
started late today and will be continued tomorrow. The S side of the fire growth continues to occur and a burnout is
planned at a later date. These are the major emission sources. They continue
to impact Big Sur, Carmel, Salinas and San Joaquin Valley & their
respective communities.
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Burnout
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Dress
up & Burnout
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Free
Burn
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Photo below: Infra-Red Flight from 8/4
IR heat intensities from the previous night are identified. Areas of intense heat are red shading & white arrows. Scattered heat is yellow shading. Isolated heat spots are red dots. These heat intensities are still numerous. They are sources of emissions and in combination with free burning and burnout operations, continue to affect AQ in local communities.
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7. Soberanes Fire Trajectories from two major sources of emissions.
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24 Hour
trajectory for altitudes: 10 meters (green), 100 meters (blue), and 250
meters (red) from point near Launtz Ridge ran from 0600 on August 5, 2016
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24 Hour
trajectory for altitudes: 10 meters (green), 100 meters (blue), and 250
meter (red) from point near Launtz Ridge ran from 1400 on August 5, 2016.
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24 Hour
trajectory for altitudes: 10 meters (green), 100 meters (blue), and 250
meters (red) from point near Uncle Sam Mountain ran from 0600 on August 5,
2016.
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24 Hour
trajectory for altitudes: 10 meters (green), 100 meters (blue), and 250
meters (red) from point near Uncle Sam Mountain ran from 1400 on August 5,
2016
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8.
The Soberanes
Fire smoke production and its long range drift are displayed below. It is anticipated that this smoke will remain ESE orientation.
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Photo below: NOAA
Hazard Mapping System - 8/5/16 PM.
Smoke from Soberanes continued to move east and has
mixed with smoke from other fires in the San Joaquin Valley. 1) Green = light, 2) Yellow = medium & 3) Red =
dense (only shown in the left picture). These colored layers are not
defined by their elevation above ground. However, they do provide valuable
information concerning the horizontal extent of wildfire’s smoke plume and
its zone of influence
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9. Important Note:
Saturday:
Marine layer is
expected to be at 2,000 – 2,500 feet over the fire area. This effectively
dampens forest fuels and lowers fuel temperatures which can impede burnout operations and
shorten the “Burn Window”. Smoke production is expected to decline and air
quality to improve.
Sunday:
The marine layer
will be present in the fire area in the morning but drier conditions than
Saturday are expected.
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Smoke transport winds were Westerly eventually becoming NW. The wind speeds were such that the plume
fanned across a wide zone of influence.
This was captured in the NOAA Visible satellite imagery. The Big Sur, Carmel,
Salinas and San Joaquin Valleys were impacted again.
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