Cascade Volcanoes Shrouded in Smoke

Astronauts orbiting the Pacific Northwest captured a striking contrast in late July and early August: glaciated Cascade peaks wreathed in wildfire smoke. Mount Hood, Oregon's tallest mountain at over eleven thousand feet, was engulfed in smoke from the Grasshopper fire, ignited by lightning on July twenty-third. As of mid-August, the fire had consumed nearly eighty-four thousand acres across Mount Hood National Forest, triggering evacuation orders in surrounding communities. About one hundred miles north, Mount Rainier—Washington's tallest peak at over fourteen thousand feet—was similarly cloaked, with smoke drifting in from fires to the east. A separate fire later ignited within Mount Rainier National Park itself, burning over two hundred acres and remaining uncontained. According to NASA Science, above-normal fire potential was forecast to persist through August, driven by El Niño-influenced warm, dry weather combined with dried vegetation ready to fuel large, long-burning fires.

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