with explosive vigor in the Pack Creek drainage in the foothills of the La Sal Mountains, just south of Moab, Utah. This fire broke out yesterday and filled Castle Valley with smoke beneath mostly cloudy skies, with most of it clearing out overnight. Then today, shortly after noon, the strong winds fanned the fire into full intensity once again. Yikes.
View from Castle Valley of smoke plume from the Pack Creek fire rising above Porcupine Rim. Strong westerly winds are driving the plume across the La Sal Mountain front. (Click on panorama to enlarge.)
Around 3 pm MDT the smoke plume grew considerably larger in size.
Image captured around 5 pm MDT showing development of pyrocumulus clouds above the smoke plume.
Here are live updates. Spoiler: The fire was human-caused by an unattended campfire, according to the U.S. Forest Service and Utah Department of Natural Resources.
UPDATE: This image was captured around 7 pm MDT. (Click on image to enlarge.)