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SD · Sudan · –

Al Leri fire, 26 November 2019 Al Leri, Ghadeer

Out · last detection 16 Dec 2019, 11:56 UTC

The fire started on 26 November 2019 in Al Leri, Sudan, and satellites saw it burning for 20 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 17,936 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 5th largest in South Kordofan since 2016 (of 315 with a page). The largest in Sudan in 2019, of 132.

Burnt area
17,936ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
20days
26 Nov 2019 – 15 Dec 2019
Municipalities hit
2
localities
Started on
26 Nov
2019
Heat detections
745
in a single hotspot: 236 MW
Danger at start
44
Very high · FWI index
Average daily power
697MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 26 Nov15 Dec
16 Dec 2019

How it evolved, day by day

26 Nov 2019 · 474 MW · 19 27 Nov 2019 · 1,310 MW · 37 28 Nov 2019 · 1,166 MW · 119 29 Nov 2019 · 1,879 MW · 129 30 Nov 2019 · 1,390 MW · 70 1 Dec 2019 · 71 MW · 11 2 Dec 2019 · 54 MW · 9 3 Dec 2019 · 162 MW · 13 4 Dec 2019 · 1,832 MW · 53 5 Dec 2019 · 2,914 MW · 96 6 Dec 2019 · 87 MW · 12 7 Dec 2019 · 844 MW · 28 8 Dec 2019 · 210 MW · 17 9 Dec 2019 · 35 MW · 5 10 Dec 2019 · 19 MW · 1 11 Dec 2019 · 129 MW · 16 12 Dec 2019 · 29 MW · 5 13 Dec 2019 · 1,090 MW · 60 14 Dec 2019 · 53 MW · 7 15 Dec 2019 · 714 MW · 20 16 Dec 2019 · 181 MW · 18
26 Nov 1 Dec 5 Dec 11 Dec 16 Dec

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

37°high
44km/h · peak gust
15%lowest humidity

It had gone 22 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

58% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 5,552 ha in 2016, 6,672 ha in 2017. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 10,382 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 11% of the area of London (179 km² against 1,583 km²).

London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).

This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.

What happened to each town

  1. Al Leri where it started
    11,032 ha
    1.5 %
  2. 6,939 ha
    1.0 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance runs from the point marking the centre of each area to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

The weather day by day

ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, the standard reference for past weather, and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (the same system Copernicus uses), computed by WorldFires from that data. Days after the fire run until the first rain.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
26 Nov 35.2 °C 24 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
27 Nov 36.2 °C 22 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
28 Nov 36.8 °C 17 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
29 Nov 36.2 °C 20 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
30 Nov 35.4 °C 19 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
1 Dec 35.4 °C 17 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
2 Dec 35.5 °C 18 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
3 Dec 36.7 °C 17 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
4 Dec 35.9 °C 16 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
5 Dec 35.3 °C 18 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
6 Dec 35.8 °C 19 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
7 Dec 35.9 °C 21 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
8 Dec 35.9 °C 20 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
9 Dec 34.8 °C 18 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
10 Dec 35.3 °C 18 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
11 Dec 35.7 °C 18 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
12 Dec 36.3 °C 18 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
13 Dec 35.7 °C 17 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
14 Dec 35.7 °C 15 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
15 Dec 36.0 °C 18 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
16 Dec after 34.9 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
17 Dec after 34.1 °C 13 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
18 Dec after 34.5 °C 20 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
19 Dec after 35.3 °C 16 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
20 Dec after 35.2 °C 20 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
21 Dec after 36.1 °C 20 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
22 Dec after 36.3 °C 19 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
23 Dec after 36.1 °C 19 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
24 Dec after 36.2 °C 18 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
25 Dec after 36.2 °C 13 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 81

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 44.5, a minimum humidity of 24% and 22 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 33.

FWI at the start 44.5
Minimum humidity 24 %
Days without rain 22
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Ghadeer fire, November 2017
2,768 ha 3 days FWI 45.7 Min. humidity 22 % 146 km away, in 2017

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.

What happened to them

11 days
median duration
5,459 ha
median area
18 %
went past 10,000 ha
2.4 mm
rain at the end (median; 5 of 33 had it)

It was 3.3 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 20 days, against 11 days.

Only 1 of its 33 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 28 of 33, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.4 mm.

This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it

How it ended

—first rain
—no rain in ten days
44km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 15 Dec, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 5 of 33, with a median of 2.4 mm.

Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

How a twin is chosen

  • Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2016.
  • Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
  • Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
  • Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
  • They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 19 Nov 2019
After · 22 Dec 2019

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

Detections table · 745Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Sudan

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Al Leri fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 26 November 2019 to 15 December 2019 (20 days). The perimeter dates it from 27 November 2019 to 8 December 2019.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 17,936 hectares (179.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Al Leri (11,032 ha, 1.5 %); Ghadeer (6,939 ha, 1.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.8 °C, humidity dropped to 15 % and gusts hit 44 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 69, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Sudan (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 33. Their median duration was 11 days and their median area 5,459 ha; 18 % went past 10,000 ha. Only 1 of its 33 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 28 of 33, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.4 mm.

Where to verify it

A satellite detection is not an official report. Final figures and the fire’s status are published by each country’s emergency service.

Satellite cross-check

History of this page · 2 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 8 December 2019 → 15 December 2019.
  2. Start date: 27 November 2019 → 26 November 2019.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

Does something look wrong on this page?

This page is built from satellite data and official records, and it sometimes gets things wrong: the wrong dates, the wrong town, two fires merged into one, or something that was not a wildfire at all. If you know this fire first-hand (you live nearby, saw it, fought it or reported on it), tell us what really happened and we will check it.

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How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 4 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 27 November 2019 to 8 December 2019. 745 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
  • We have not matched this page with any official record.
  • Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.

How we build fire pages: methodology

Where this data comes from

The perimeter comes from the Copernicus Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), which rebuilds it from MODIS and VIIRS heat detections and publishes it under CC BY 4.0. It is not measured on imagery as in Europe, so it is an estimate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Intergovernmental Organisations (CC BY 3.0 IGO)). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ from each country’s official figure.