November 26, 2019 - Fires in Victoria, Australia

After an early start to an extremely destructive fire season in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, the state of Victoria has also begun to burn.

Record-breaking temperatures, strong winds, and dry lightning striking tinder-dry vegetation across Victoria combined to create an inferno in the Australian state of Victoria in late November, 2019. Winds reached 100 km/h (62 mph) with temperatures as high as 40°C (104°F) in parts of the state in recent days, creating extreme fire risk. On November 20, firefighters attacked 150 fires across the state, as, according to the Country Fire Authority (CFA), the state experienced its first Code Red Fire Danger Rating of the bushfire season. Code Red is the highest fire alert available. As of November 25, Vic Emergency, the state’s emergency information website, posted warnings for 24 continuing bushfires.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of fires and heavy smoke rising from fires burning in Victoria on November 25. The large plumes of smoke pour across the Bass Strait.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 11/25/2019
Resolutions: 1km (419.6 KB), 500m (1021.9 KB), 250m (747.2 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC