Chips Fire - Aerial 40,000' MSL

Updated August 28, 7:00AM-PDT

Huge smoke plume from Chips Fire, Plumas County, CA
The dark spec in the center of the frame is a commercial airliner at cruise altitude suggesting the cloud topped out higher than 25,000' MSL.
Image taken Aug 2, 2012, about 5:00 PM-PDT

Smoke drifting towards the northeast from the Chips Fire
The fire is burning off the lower left of the frame and was not in view on the side of the aircraft where I was seated.
Image taken August 23, 2012, about 8:00 PM-PDT

Latest Incident information [Inciweb]


Notice: Firefighters have made significant progress battling the Chips Fire as can be seen in the latest MODIS imagery (below). Interest in this blog post has waned. As a result, it will be updated less frequently and the incident information will be accessible through the Inciweb link above, but will no longer be replicated here.

This fire is by no means out, and still represents an extreme hazard in the region. If it resumes its rapid growth and/or interest in this post increases, updates may also resume.

NASA MODIS images

Annotated image of fires burning in the vicinity of the Chips Fire
Barry Point, Fort Complex, Holloway, Reading, Hanson, and Chips fires shown
Click image for larger version

8/27 afternoon pass
Click image for much larger version

8/27 morning pass
Click image for much larger version

8/23 pass
Click image for much larger version

8/22 pass
Click image for much larger version

8/21 pass
Click image for much larger version

8/20 pass
Click image for much larger version

8/19 pass
Click image for much larger version

8/18 - afternoon pass
Click image for much larger version

8/18 morning pass
Click image for much larger version

8/15 pass
Click image for much larger version

8/14 pass
Click image for much larger version

8/13 pass
Click image for much larger version

8/11 afternoon pass
Click image for much larger version

8/11 morning pass
Click image for much larger version

Shrinking plumes as firefighters work to get the blaze under control
Image 8/9 19:15 UTC /  11:15 PDT
Click image for much larger version

Smoke plumes over Northern California and Nevada
Image 8/7 21:05 UTC /  13:05 PDT
Click image for much larger version

Look before you cross

Seattle Great Wheel

This is the inaugural weekend for the brand new Seattle Great Wheel, a large Ferris wheel on a pier on the Seattle Waterfront. As one might imagine, the queues for this attraction are fairly long - roughly an hour from the beginning of the ticket line to boarding the gondola. The price is $13 per adult; $8.50 for children 12 and under.

More information: Seattle Great Wheel web site.

The Seattle Great Wheel on Opening Weekend

The ticket is a card with bar codes that correspond to an account that can be reloaded and reused. One is pictured at the bottom of this post.

The ride is smooth and comfortable. The gondolas are enclosed. There are narrow slit windows at the top that can open for ventilation and there is also heat and air conditioning. There's even a call button on the ceiling in case someone has an emergency. The ride can operate rain or shine. And it has that new Ferris Wheel smell!

Edge-on

A few of the people in the gondola I rode were initially a bit skittish about the heights but settled down after the loading rotation and were fine after that.

This thing is big

I am not posting many view pictures - we'll leave that for the experience of riding the thing. I will comment though that at about 200' high, the view of the waterfront is quite impressive, but it is dwarfed by the city itself.

From inside a gondola it looks a little like a roller coaster

I don't know if I'd make this a regular thing, but I enjoyed it and might return to share it with visitors on special occasions.

The wheel also has an elaborate LED light show which I will return to photograph some evening in the future, when the days are shorter.

The ride is smooth and comfortable with Air Conditioning!

Viewed from the Pike Place Market skybridge

Ticket card

Hello There

WSU Team Logo Aircraft - Alaska/Horizon Airlines

WSU Cougers Logo Aircraft takes off from Seattle/Tacoma International Airport at Sunset

Alaska Airlines' regional carrier, until recently known as Horizon Air, operates a fleet of smaller regional aircraft. Many have been decorated with team logo art from various college teams in the areas they serve.

Topaz Ranch Estates (Tre) Fire

Tre Fire viewed from commercial flight May 22 6:45PM

5 minutes later, another angle

The TRE (Topaz Ranch Estates) Fire started at approximately 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22. The fire burned in cheat grass, sagebrush and pinyon pine/juniper on mostly BLM public lands, one mile north of Nevada State Route 208 and three miles east of U.S. Highway 395 near Topaz Lake (about 60 miles south of Reno, Nevada). On May 26, full containment was achieved with the help of cooler weather and some precipitation.

Incident Information [inciweb.org]

California Poppy

On a visit to the Buttonwood Winery between Santa Ynez and Los Olivos, in Santa Barbara, CA, after sampling their tasting-room's selection of wines, out back I found a garden, California Poppies in bloom; enchanted light shone through the trees, and there I snapped this picture.

California Poppy

Happy 50th!

Seattle's iconic Space Needle getting a coat of "Galaxy Gold" paint
for the fiftieth anniversary of its opening on April 21, 1962.

Above Seattle at Night

Nighttime approach into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Seattle Waterfront

CenturyLink Stadium & Safeco Field
Port of Seattle
In the top left corner can be seen headlights on the I-90 floating bridge

Iconic Space Needle

CenturyLink Field

Port of Seattle

Romancing the Stone

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is installing a new art piece titled Levitated Mass by artist Michael Heizer. This will comprise a 456-foot-long slot constructed on LACMA's campus, over which is a 340-ton granite megalith.

An immense payload, the megalith was transported to the museum by a purpose-built vehicle consisting of several semi-tractors, both pulling and pushing from behind, the huge suspension jig, a hierarchy of beams and wheel trucks resembling a Calder mobile - arguably a work of art in itself - designed to provide flexibility of steering around tight corners while distributing the load over many wheels so as not to overstress the road bed.

Along the route, advance crews removed light poles and traffic signals, raised or removed low-hanging utility lines, trimmed trees, and blocked traffic to permit this football-field length land ship to pass. In its wake, follow-up crews restored the infrastructure. The journey from quarry to museum began on Feburary 28th, spanned four counties (Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and Los Angeles) and twenty-two cities to arrive at LACMA in the early morning on Saturday, March 10th.

Despite the overnight hours, crowds of thousands followed twitter feeds broadcasting the status of the journey and lined the route, photographing, taking video, and cheering the convoy along its way as it picked through tight quarters, waited at times for tow trucks to remove cars parked in the clearly marked temporary no parking zones, and removed the occasional obstacle missed by the advance crews.

When this monster arrived at the museum, it stopped for a time, allowing people get up close, touch the rock, take tourist photos, etc. All in all, a well coordinated, well-run transport operation, and perhaps a dry run for the upcoming transportation of the Retired Space Shuttle Endeavour to its display site at Exposition Park.

The rock negotiating the turn from Figueroa St. to Adams Blvd.

A tight turn from Adams Blvd. onto Western Ave.

Arrival at LACMA.

A visit to the Seattle Public Library

Besides being a sculpture in itself, the Seattle Public Library building is actually quite functional. At the time of my visit, snow had been falling for some time, adding an interesting element to the sloping windows.

The boat-like appearance is an artifact of this distorted image.
The building is really square.
(another view)

Escalators provide express access to upper levels.

Book shelves are arranged in a roughly helical space in the core of the building.
The floor ahead slopes upward. Walking once around rises a level.

Huge open windowed spaces characterize the periphery of the building.

Oddly angled window walls offer spectacular views of the city all around.

Snow accumulated in the diamond-shaped windows adds an interesting texture.