High Sierra Topix

Latest Rim Fire perimeter shows its got all the way to Hetch Hetchy and is closing on the Tioga Rd in the vicinity of White Wolf: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3660/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
NPS are planning to close the Tioga Rd at noon Wednesday: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/rimfire.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Smaller fire named Windy Peak Fire in Kings Canyon, north of Simpson Meadow
400 acres, and 20% contained.
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3705/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
More thunderstorms predicted for today and tomorrow.

Just saw this as well; should probably get its own topic on the front page. With the 108 corridor getting evacuation advisories, people crossing the Sierra for Labor Day trips should be prepared for both trans-Sierra roads to potentially be closed when they try to come home.



Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

From the backpacker's perspective on NW Yosemite:

The good news is that the after jumping 2/3 of the way from Lake Eleanor toward Kibbie Lake and taking out much of that trail, the fire seems to have settled in on the ridge south of Kibbie and has not gotten much closer for two days.

The bad news is that the fire is steadily spreading east and has gone well up Frog Creek and taken out the trails south of Laurel Lake. It could be on the way to Laurel and Beehive, and almost certainly will cut the trail from Hetch Hetchy to Beehive if it has not done so already. Worst case if this keeps going it could wind up going through Laurel and Beehive up Morraine Ridge and Frog Creek, but will eventually hit granite.

Perhaps worse yet is that the fire perimeter shows that most of the south shore of Hetchy Hetchy is burned, including the backpacking campground. It is burning along the Cottonwood Creek trail and headed in the direction of Harden Lake. White Wolf would be next, but that is still a ways off. There are plenty of trees east of White Wolf too. In short, there are many, many miles of forest to burn before there are logical stopping places if the fire keeps going east from the south shore of Hetch Hetchy.

Looks like from the article on the Tioga Rd closure they are going to try and stop the fire at Hwy 120, presumably including the White Wolf spur: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/article/3660/20959/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At that point the Big Meadow burn area should help stop further spread to the south. But stopping it from going east may be more difficult.

Fire line is getting very close to Kibbie Lake and Laurel Lake, and unfortunately may
then continue up Kendrick to Edith Lake and the Vernon Lake areas.
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3660/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

maverick wrote:Fire line is getting very close to Kibbie Lake and Laurel Lake, and unfortunately may
then continue up Kendrick to Edith Lake and the Vernon Lake areas.
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3660/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, the E edge had held for a couple of days then it really jumped eastward yesterday. Much of the area btw HH and Eleanor burned not all that long ago (late 80s? or even later) and the north shore of HH burned even more recently that that (Oct 2004, I recall, a rather dramatic arson-suicide conclusion to a major manhunt). The area around Edyth, in contrast, hasn't had a major fire in a very long time, judging from the huge trees there, so I hope the fire stops short of that area. It's getting pretty close to Laurel and Kibbie (has been close to Kibbie for awhile).

what link can I go to that will show me the most up-to-date satellite smoke plume on any given day? The internet seems full of sites...too many to dig through not knowing the science behind the different views. I registered on earthdata but it looks like the site is intermittently down for upgrades until Friday. I want to make sure I'm not driving in the wrong direction for hiking this weekend. Thanks.

Tollermom wrote:
what link can I go to that will show me the most up-to-date satellite smoke
plume on any given day?

http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Use the controls on the left side to zoom in and then click the layers you want on the right.

thanks...I still seem to only be able to pull fire maps with smoke, not actual satellite real time photos. I'll keep banging away at it.