+ Visit NASA.gov + Advanced Search   + About the Server   + Animation List   + How to Use the Server   + RSS Feeds   + Podcasts   + Opportunities Previous Animation Next Animation Southern California Fires, Oct 26, 2003 Several massive wildfires were raging across southern California over the weekend of October 25, 2003. Whipped by the hot, dry Santa Ana winds that blow toward the coast from interior deserts, at least one fire grew 10,000 acres in just 6 hours. Moving northwest to southeast along the coast, the first cluster of red dots is a combination of the Piru, Verdale, and the Simi Incident Fires; The next cluster-to the east of Los Angeles-is the Grand Prix (west) and Old (east) Fires; To their south is the Roblar 2 Fire; Next is the Paradise Fire; Then the massive Cedar Fire, whose thick smoke is completely overshadowing the coastal city of San Diego; Finally, at the California-Mexico border is the Otay Fire. At least 13 people have lost their lives because of these fires, which officials are reporting were caused by carelessness and arson. Thousands have been evacuated across the region and hundreds of homes have been lost.    This annotation zooms down to the Southern California fires and smoke plume on October 26, 2003. Duration: 4.0 seconds Available formats:   720x486 (30 fps) Frames (Nopix)   720x486 (30 fps) Frames (Pix)   320x240 (30 fps) MPEG-1   570 KB   320x240     JPEG         11 KB   320x240 (30 fps) X-FLV       204 KB How to play our movies    The smoke plumes rising from the fires. Moving northwest to southeast along the coast, the first cluster of red dots is a combination of the Piru, Verdale, and the Simi Incident Fires; The next cluster-to the east of Los Angeles-is the Grand Prix (west) and Old (east) Fires; To their south is the Roblar 2 Fire; Next is the Paradise Fire; Then the massive Cedar Fire, whose thick smoke is completely overshadowing the coastal city of San Diego; Finally, at the California-Mexico border is the Otay Fire. Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 7 MB   160 x 80           PNG       24 KB   320 x 240         JPEG     14 KB   80 x 40             PNG         7 KB    The red dots show each Incident Fire. The cluster-to the east of Los Angeles-is the Grand Prix (west) and Old (east) Fires; to their south is the Roblar 2 Fire; next is the Paradise Fire; then the massive Cedar Fire, whose thick smoke is completely overshadowing the coastal city of San Diego; finally, at the California-Mexico border is the Otay Fire. Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 7 MB   320 x 240         JPEG     14 KB Animation Number: 2842 Completed: 2003-10-27 Animators: Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC) (Lead)   Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC) Scientist: Vincent Salomonson (NASA/GSFC) Platform/Sensor/Data Set: Terra/MODIS (2003/10/26) Series: Fires Keywords: DLESE >> Atmospheric science DLESE >> Forestry SVS >> Los Angeles DLESE >> Natural hazards SVS >> San Diego GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Biosphere >> Ecological Dynamics >> Fire Occurrence GCMD >> Location >> California This work has been visible on ABC Nightly News 6:00PM on October 27, 2003     Please give credit for this item to: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team (http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov) Back to Top + Privacy Policy and Important Notices + Reproduction Guidelines NASA Official: Content Contact: Curator: