Explosive development of two forest fires in southwest New Mexico.
https://app.watchduty.org/i/51308
https://app.watchduty.org/i/51304
The weather satellite loop starts in the morning when the entire southwest US is cloud free except for a few clouds over the Sacramento mountains east of White Sands.
The clouds over the Sacramento mountains develop quickly into dry thunderstorms, but don't become widespread.
To the west, around the Gila Wilderness and Silver City, two gray smoke plumes become visible. (And some dry thunderstorms over the Black Range at the east end of the Gila National Forest.)
In the hottest part of the day, late afternoon, fire growth is explosive and smoke plumes rise to over 20,000 feet. (The clouds are white, the smoke plumes late in the day are yellow/brown.)
The smoke plumes are thick enough that the sun is entirely blotted out. You can see the shadow the southern plume projects as the sun gets low before sunset.
#NewMexico #NMwx #Fire #Smoke #Drought