File:Burn Scars in California (MODIS 2020-08-28).jpg

English: Record-breaking heat along with significant drought conditions set the stage for an extremely severe fire season in California this year. When a “lightning siege” in mid-August brought nearly 12,000 lightning strikes in a week, tinder-dry vegetation ignited across the state, giving rise to some of the largest fires in the state’s history.

The title of the largest fire on record remains with the Mendocino Complex Fire, which burned 459,123 acres in July of 2018. Second and third place have been taken by this year’s LNU Lightning Complex and the SCU Lightning Complex which have charred 368,868 acres and 368,671 acres, respectively. As of August 27, they were both still burning with each about 33 percent contained.

On August 26, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image that highlighted the vast expanse of the burn scars of both the LNU and the SCU Lightning Complex. The false-color image uses a combination of visible and infrared light (MODIS bands 7,2,1) to better show the burn scars through the smoke. Burned vegetation (the burn scar) appears brown and unburned vegetation appears bright green.

While this single false-color image gives a clear visualization of the burn scar, sometimes viewing comparison images can illustrate the changes that have occurred over time. Thanks to the NASA Worldview app, a stunning roll-over comparison of MODIS images from the Terra satellite can be viewed HERE The two false-color images were acquired on August 26 and on August 15, the day before the Lightning Siege began.

Since August 17, 2020, wildfires have burned through more than 1 million acres (4,000 square kilometers), destroyed around 2,000 structures, and caused at least seven deaths. The LNU Lightning Complex is burning near Santa Rosa (north) and the SCU Lightning Complex sits near San Jose (south). According to Cal Fire, 21 major fires (more than 100 acres) continue to burn across California.

The NASA Worldview app provides a satellite's perspective of the planet as it looks today and as it has in the past through daily satellite images. Worldview is part of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System. EOSDIS makes the agency's large repository of data accessible and freely available to the public.