From Russia, With Love: Roll Out Those Lazy, Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer!

SIBERIAN WILDFIRES SEND HAZE & SMOKE TO THE COPPER VALLEY

A relatively cool and rainy summer has seemingly left much of roadside Alaska safer this year from fire. But Siberia is not so lucky. And when Siberia has wildfires, the haze and smoke frequently drifts eastward, over the state. This summer is no exception. 

Fires seen from space in Siberia. (Photo, European Space Agency, late June 2020)

Siberia has been having record-setting temperatures. The town of Verkhoyansk hit 110.4 degrees on June 20th, and Russia media says that the fires there are burning more to the north than ever recorded, according o Alaska Public Radio. 

Apparently, people in Anchorage, Palmer, and even as far north as Tok and Northway began calling around last month to see if the fires were in Alaska, according to Alaska State Forestry.  

By July 30th, the National Weather Service said that smoke was spreading throughout Southcentral Alaska, especially in the Copper River Valley and Mat-Su. Russian fires have a long history of sending plumes of smoke and haze over Alaska. It happens frequently. 

When evening falls, you can see an orange-pink glow on tree trunks such as poplars. During the day, the sky looks as if it's uniformly cloudy, even when it's not.