Smoke from Sequoia fires is pouring over SLO County. Here’s what it looks like from space
San Luis Obispo County woke to hazy orange skies on Friday as smoke drifted in from the four major wildfires burning in Sequoia National Park and Forest.
Although the county has seen some minor impacts from the fires lately, the haze thickened Friday as winds pushed the smoke directly to the Central Coast.
Satellite imagery from space taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed the swirling smoke billowing from the Sierra Nevada, across the Central Coast and over to the Pacific Ocean.
The smoke was high in the atmosphere, however, meaning that the air quality won’t degrade.
“Variable amounts of smoke and haze, mostly above 6,000 feet of altitude, will continue to stream over the Central Coast from the wildfires burning in the central and southern Sierra Nevada through Sunday,” PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey wrote in an update to his email weather forecast.
The 36,850-acre KNP Complex Fire is burning just north of Mineral King Road in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and has spread northeast into portions of the Sequoia National Forest, according to the National Park Service.
That fire has burned in many of the park’s most visited areas, including Moro Rock Trail, Tunnel Log and the area around the famous General Sherman Tree. The blaze was 0% contained as of Thursday.
The Walkers Fire is burning south of the KNP Complex Fire in a remote area of Sequoia National Forest. It had burned 8,777 acres and was 99% contained as of Friday.
South of the Walkers Fire is the Windy Fire, which had burned 49,053 acres and was 6% contained as of Friday. The Windy Fire is burning near Camp Whitsett in Sequoia National Forest.
Meanwhile, the French Fire near Isabella Lake had burned 26,535 acres and was 98% contained as of Friday.
Evacuations have been ordered for areas of Tulare County as the Sequoia forest fires grow.
In addition, the Central Valley has been severely inundated with smoke from the fires, causing ash to fall in some areas.
Santa Barbara County has also been impacted by smoke from the four fires.
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 11:35 AM.
