It’s been a bad summer for wildfires, and even with autumn’s cooler temperatures approaching, the fires still burn.

NASA’s Aqua satellite captured images of several large fires burning in the Northwest on Sept. 17. Smoke can be seen billowing from the blazes in the image and red outlines show where the fires burn the hottest.

Some of the blazes, like the Halstead and Mustang Complex fires in Idaho, have been burning for months. Others, like the Sheep and Pole Creek fires (in Idaho and Oregon, respectively), were ignited in the past couple weeks.

Montana’s Dugan fire, pictured in a second image obtained by Aqua on Sept. 15, was discovered in Custer National Forest last week. That image also shows towering pyrocumulus clouds that formed after the fire’s intense heat pushed air high into the atmosphere. Pyrocumulus clouds sometimes generate intense thunderstorms that can either dampen the flames with drenching rains or propel the fire with strong winds.

Wildfires raged through Colorado and throughout the Southwest earlier this summer, before shifting west and north. As of yesterday, Washington, Montana and Idaho were the hardest hit states, with 19 large active fires between the three, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

From Our Amazing Planet: https://www.ouramazingplanet.com/3504-northwest-wildfires-from-space.html