Ashburn, VA

61° F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Ashburn

Virginia

61°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Ashburn, VA Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Video

Podcasts

Winter Center

News & Features AccuWeather Prime Astronomy Business Climate Health Recreation Sports Travel

News / Weather News

Smoke from Siberian forest fires traveled across Bering Sea to US, Canada

By Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Aug. 2, 2019 9:58 PM EDT | Updated Aug. 3, 2019 7:59 PM EDT

Copied
Watch now

Smoke from forest fires in Siberia, Russia, can be seen rising in this video. 9,000 responders are currently battling the fires that are affecting over 600 settlements in the region as of August 2.

High pressure is forecast to block the smoke traveling from over 400 forest fires in Siberia from reaching Alaska and portions of the west coast of Canada this week.

The Russian regions of Irkutsk, Buryatia, Sakha and Krasnoyarsk have declared states of emergency as the smoke chokes cities downwind, according to the Associated Press. All smoke can be hazardous, especially for the young or elderly.

However, NASA scientists don't believe the smoke will be traveling low enough in the U.S. to impact air quality.

Smoke from a multitude of wildfires in Siberia has swept across the Pacific and reached Alaska and northwestern Canada. (NOAA/NASA)

NASA

"The smoke travels at such high altitudes that it's unlikely to significantly impact air quality in the U.S., unless wind currents reach the surface," Atmospheric Scientist Colin Seftor said. Seftor works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and has been tracking the smoke through its journey, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck said that a storm tracking from Russia across the Bering Sea and into Alaska had steered the smoke into the area. However, conditions have improved since then.

"The storm that is currently crossing northern Alaska is no longer steering smoke across the state, so conditions should be better from now into much of next week," Smerbeck said. "It looks like high pressure building in behind the storm will keep the Russian smoke mostly to the west of Alaska and Canada for much of the next week."

Smerbeck said the high pressure should steer the smoke to the north and west of Alaska and Canada.

‘It’s just a matter of time:’ Despite fewer wildfires so far in 2019, California braces for another busy fire season
The most common ways people spark devastating wildfires in the US
How destructive wildfires create their own weather
What you can do to help prevent deadly, devastating wildfires from occurring
When a wildfire is 100-percent ‘contained,’ does that mean the blaze is completely extinguished?

NASA identified the smoke through an aerosol index from the Suomi-NPP satellite's Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) instrument.

According to Russia's Federal Forestry Agency, more than 2.7 million hectares (6,671,845 acres) of Siberian forest is currently ablaze across six different Siberian and Far East regions. It all adds up to about the size of Massachusetts.

Russian officials have stated that although the fires have not encroached upon populated areas, about 800 cities are blanketed in heavy smoke, including larger cities such as Noosibirk, Krasnoyarsk and Chita, the AP reported. It is suspected that some of these fires were started by lightning strikes.

Over 300 of the forest fires are burning in remote areas of Siberia that are "difficult to reach," the Avialesoohrana forest protection agency said, according to DW News.

The agency is not fighting the fires in the remote areas that are burning up to 2.88 million hectares (7.12 million acres) because "there was no threat to population centers and economic objects, and the projected losses through firefighting surpass the potential damage of the fires," according to a statement from the agency cited by the Interfax news agency.

"There will be a storm system crossing Siberia that will cause showers and thunderstorms over the fire areas this weekend, which will help to put out the fires, but lightning could also start new ones," Smerbeck said.

"The pattern may shift later next week as storms with rain and cooler air shift eastward into the western regions of the fire zones. It may take a while to reach the central and eastern fire zone areas," he added.

In Alaska, more than 400 fires 🔥 have been reported in 2019. In early July, NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of smoke from wildfires billowing over most of the state. On July 24, much of central northern Asia was covered in smoke 💨 from Siberian fires. pic.twitter.com/3VbAYePZDS

— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) August 1, 2019
Report a Typo

Weather News

Weather Forecasts

Looming heat wave may lead to wildfire surge in Northwest

Aug. 13, 2022
Weather News

Infant dies after being left in hot car in Washington, DC

Aug. 12, 2022
Climate

Arctic warming nearly 4 times as fast as entire globe, study says

Aug. 11, 2022
Astronomy

Saturn opposition: Why August is perfect for spotting the ringed plane...

Aug. 12, 2022
Weather News

Bystanders spring into action seconds before sinkhole swallows car

Aug. 12, 2022
Weather News

Army identifies 2 Fort Benning soldiers killed by fallen tree in Ga.

Aug. 11, 2022
Recreation

Level up your barbecue game this summer with these gas grills

Jul. 15, 2022
Recreation

Why a zero-gravity chair is what you should add to your yard this year

Jul. 19, 2022
Show More Show Less Chevron down

Topics

News & Features

AccuWeather Prime

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Top Stories

Severe Weather

Heavy rain hammers Las Vegas, turning famed strip into a river

1 hour ago

Hurricane

Budding Gulf storm to eye South Texas with heavy rain, flooding

5 minutes ago

Weather News

Watch out! Dangerously close jet approaches plane spotters

11 hours ago

Health

Study: Half of known infectious diseases aggravated by climate hazards

11 hours ago

Astronomy

The summer of the supermoon draws to a close in sensational fashion

18 hours ago

More Stories

Featured Topic

Local Arthritis Forecast

Featured Stories

Explore this hurricane-beaten ghost town where time has all but stoppe... Webb space telescope glimpses most distant star known to exist The tools you need to maintain your garden through the rest of summer
AccuWeather Weather News Smoke from Siberian forest fires traveled across Bering Sea to US, Canada
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
© 2021 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | TAG Disclosure | Do Not Sell My Data checkmark Confirmed Not Selling Your Data

We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

I Understand

Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications.

Notifications Enabled

Thanks! We’ll keep you informed.

FEEDBACK