File:Fires in Northern Russia (MODIS 2019-06-29).jpg

English: As early summer temperatures soar in the Arctic and sea ice melts quickly along Russia’s northern coastline, dozens of large fires ravage taiga and pour smoke into the atmosphere. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of a hot, fiery, smoky scene across northern Russia on June 28, 2019.

Hundreds of red hot spots speckle the landscape, some very large and some small. Each of these mark an area where the thermal bands on the MODIS instrument identified high temperatures. When combined with typical smoke, as in this image, such hot spots mark actively burning fire. Heavy fire activity appears to cover much of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) as well as Krasnoyarsk Krai. The billowing smoke travels on the winds to cover much of the region. In the upper right the northern Siberian coastline can be seen.

Arctic sea ice remains in the Laptev Sea, but the fast ice (ice attached to the shore) has melted along much of the coastline. High temperatures have sped the annual ice melt as well as created conditions ripe for forest fires. An example of the heat wave can be see at Tiksi airport, located in the far north of the Sakha Republic along the Laptev Sea. According to Accuweather, average daily high temperatures in June range from 44-53°F (6.6-11.6°C). From June 1 through 21, 2019, temperatures were about 15°F higher than average each day, with the coolest day ticking 10°F above average. Eleven days were above 80°F (26.7°C), with 3 days hitting 85°F (29.4°C).