Where Fires Are Burning in the U.S. West

Published: September 14, 2020, 3:30 PM EDT | Updated: September 18, 2020, 8:30 AM EDT

Hot, dry conditions and high winds have fueled wildfires of historic proportions scorching the western United States. Precipitated by everything from lightning strikes, powerful wind storms and a gender reveal party, the fires have transformed the landscape of California, Oregon and Washington. Smoke from the blazes could be seen from satellites choking much of the region—billowing into the Pacific and cascading into British Columbia. Here’s where the fires are burning.

Source: NASA VIIRS, U.S. Census, Global Forest Watch/University of Maryland, CalFire

An area close to the size of New Jersey has burned in the three states since the beginning of this year. Smoke from the fires has blotted out the sun and stained the skies Martian shades of orange and red.

In parts of California and Oregon, the air quality index has shot up to over 600, exceeding the scale’s maximum value of 500 and reaching unprecedented levels in the United States. (Delhi, India, one of the world’s most polluted cities in the world, had an average air quality index of 98.6 in 2019.) The air quality on the West Coast is currently the worst in the world.