Earth, Wind, and Fire (and Smoke, Lots of Smoke) [View all]

[DemoTex]

Smoke from the "Brown Fire" (started in Brown Bear Canyon of the Baboquivary Mountains, 45 miles southwest of Tucson) obscures Baboquivary Peak and spreads over the United States Observatory at Kitt Peak at sunset on Saturday (6/18).


"Ring of Fire - 1": The Brown Fire at 1 AM, Sunday, June 19, 2016.


"Ring of Fire - 2": The Brown Fire at 1 AM, Sunday, June 19, 2016. Spot fires can be seen on the northeast aspect of Baboquivary Peak (to the right of the larger "ring of fire&quot . Fire size at this time was about 4000 acres.


The 99% waxing gibbous moon sets in heavy drift smoke at about 4:45 AM, Sunday, June 19, 2016.


Sunrise with thick, layered, drift smoke from fires to the northeast (probably the Cedar Fire near Show Low, Arizona, and fires in New Mexico). The San Pedro River Valley is holding the smoke like a bathtub holds water (lower right).


A strong northeast wind (25-35+ knots) prevailed most of the night and into mid-morning. This pushed smoke from the Brown Fire (63 miles southwest of me) into Mexico. But it gave us a rude surprise at about 5:30 AM today (Sunday).


Shortly after sunrise, drift smoke started spilling over the Santa Catalina mountain ridges, from the San Pedro Valley, and flowed down the drainages into Tucson. There was widespread public concern, and our fire dispatch center got a number of phone calls.


The hottest day of the year, so far, started quite cool in the high winds at 9000 feet elevation. I grabbed a cuppa, and sat down to rest (I had been shooting off & on since 12:45 AM!). This was about 5:50 AM. Within minutes the lookout phone rang (I really knew it was coming), and I was asked to saddle up the USFS ATV-Quad and do a recon of the north and eastern aspects of the Santa Catalina Mountains, just to rule out any smoke source locally.

Note: At 5 PM Sunday (6/19/2016), the Brown Fire in the Baboquivary Mountains is sized at 8100 acres, and the temperature in Tucson is 113*F. It is a pleasant 82*F here at the fire lookout at 9000 feet.