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Cook fire, 30 September 2016 Cook

Out · last detection 26 Dec 2016, 15:16 UTC

The fire started on 30 September 2016 in Cook, Australia, and satellites saw it burning for 87 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 198,530 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

It is the 6th largest in Queensland since 2016 (of 1737 with a page). The largest in Australia in 2016, of 427.

Burnt area
198,530ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
87days
30 Sept 2016 – 25 Dec 2016
Municipalities hit
1
local government areas
Started on
30 Sept
2016
Heat detections
11,560
in a single hotspot: 265 MW
Danger at start
30
High · FWI index
Energy released
116.6GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

26 Dec 2016
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 30 Sept25 Dec

How it evolved, day by day

3012345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123467891011121314151617181920212223242526272829301234567891011121314151617181920212223242526

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

The weather it burned in

38°high
66km/h · peak gust
25%lowest humidity

It had gone 39 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 6.1 mm on 28 Dec.

This area had burned before

No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.

What happened to each town

  1. Cook where it started
    200,890 ha reached on 23 Sept
    1.9 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre 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)
23 Sept 33.2 °C 41 % 38 km/h 0.1 mm High 30
24 Sept 32.6 °C 44 % 34 km/h 0.2 mm High 30
25 Sept 35.0 °C 33 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
26 Sept 35.2 °C 34 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
27 Sept 35.3 °C 30 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
28 Sept 33.0 °C 38 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
29 Sept 34.8 °C 33 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
30 Sept 35.3 °C 36 % 34 km/h 0.2 mm High 34
1 Oct 34.1 °C 36 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
2 Oct 33.6 °C 35 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
3 Oct 34.9 °C 35 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
4 Oct 33.1 °C 43 % 48 km/h 1.5 mm High 23
5 Oct 30.4 °C 57 % 57 km/h 1.6 mm Moderate 18
6 Oct 30.8 °C 35 % 66 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
7 Oct 30.4 °C 37 % 64 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
8 Oct 31.0 °C 34 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
9 Oct 31.9 °C 35 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
10 Oct 30.7 °C 37 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
11 Oct 33.0 °C 32 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
12 Oct 34.9 °C 27 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
13 Oct 33.1 °C 33 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
14 Oct 32.0 °C 41 % 43 km/h 0.4 mm High 35
15 Oct 32.2 °C 42 % 49 km/h 0.4 mm High 36
16 Oct 31.7 °C 40 % 55 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 39
17 Oct 33.3 °C 34 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
18 Oct 34.1 °C 33 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
19 Oct 33.0 °C 35 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
20 Oct 33.4 °C 35 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
21 Oct 32.8 °C 39 % 61 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
22 Oct 31.8 °C 35 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
23 Oct 33.3 °C 32 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
24 Oct 31.3 °C 45 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
25 Oct 32.1 °C 40 % 60 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
26 Oct 33.3 °C 33 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
27 Oct 33.6 °C 35 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
28 Oct 34.4 °C 28 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
29 Oct 33.7 °C 36 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
30 Oct 32.9 °C 36 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
31 Oct 32.8 °C 32 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
1 Nov 34.9 °C 25 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
2 Nov 33.9 °C 39 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
3 Nov 33.8 °C 33 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
4 Nov 35.3 °C 33 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
5 Nov 35.3 °C 35 % 42 km/h 0.4 mm Very high 38
6 Nov 34.4 °C 41 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
7 Nov 35.6 °C 31 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
8 Nov 36.0 °C 30 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
9 Nov 36.3 °C 34 % 38 km/h 0.3 mm High 37
10 Nov 36.7 °C 32 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
11 Nov 37.4 °C 33 % 38 km/h 0.2 mm High 38
12 Nov 37.8 °C 30 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
13 Nov 37.6 °C 32 % 37 km/h 0.4 mm Very high 39
14 Nov 35.4 °C 42 % 35 km/h 3.1 mm Moderate 14
15 Nov 34.2 °C 25 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
16 Nov 33.4 °C 26 % 60 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
17 Nov 33.1 °C 33 % 64 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
18 Nov 32.4 °C 36 % 61 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
19 Nov 32.9 °C 34 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
20 Nov 32.3 °C 44 % 49 km/h 0.7 mm High 29
21 Nov 31.4 °C 49 % 50 km/h 0.6 mm High 27
22 Nov 34.2 °C 31 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
23 Nov 33.8 °C 38 % 43 km/h 0.3 mm High 34
24 Nov 35.9 °C 30 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
25 Nov 35.9 °C 31 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
26 Nov 34.4 °C 31 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
27 Nov 35.5 °C 34 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
28 Nov 35.3 °C 31 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
29 Nov 35.1 °C 36 % 36 km/h 0.4 mm High 36
30 Nov 35.2 °C 34 % 31 km/h 5.0 mm Low 11
1 Dec 35.0 °C 31 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
2 Dec 36.2 °C 26 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
3 Dec 35.1 °C 27 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
4 Dec 33.3 °C 37 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
5 Dec 33.0 °C 39 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
6 Dec 34.2 °C 31 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
7 Dec 34.9 °C 32 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
8 Dec 33.5 °C 45 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
9 Dec 36.1 °C 29 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
10 Dec 34.3 °C 37 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
11 Dec 33.7 °C 38 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
12 Dec 34.1 °C 41 % 46 km/h 0.2 mm High 36
13 Dec 32.5 °C 49 % 49 km/h 0.4 mm High 32
14 Dec 34.8 °C 41 % 45 km/h 1.4 mm High 25
15 Dec 35.2 °C 37 % 42 km/h 0.3 mm High 32
16 Dec 35.5 °C 42 % 38 km/h 0.9 mm High 26
17 Dec 32.5 °C 54 % 36 km/h 2.3 mm Low 10
18 Dec 34.1 °C 45 % 38 km/h 0.8 mm Moderate 21
19 Dec 34.2 °C 34 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
20 Dec 35.0 °C 35 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
21 Dec 34.1 °C 37 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
22 Dec 35.5 °C 33 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
23 Dec 34.6 °C 36 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
24 Dec 34.4 °C 42 % 46 km/h 0.1 mm High 37
25 Dec 34.3 °C 37 % 42 km/h 0.5 mm High 33
26 Dec after 31.5 °C 47 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
27 Dec after 32.8 °C 50 % 28 km/h 4.6 mm Low 6
28 Dec after 32.3 °C 49 % 31 km/h 6.1 mm Very low 4

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 23 Sept 2016
After · 1 Jan 2017

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 · 11,560Every 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 Australia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Cook fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 30 September 2016 and 25 December 2016: 87 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 198,530 hectares (1,985.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Cook (200,890 ha, 1.9 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 37.8 °C, humidity dropped to 25 % and gusts hit 66 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 49, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Australia (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

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.

Emergency number: 000

Satellite cross-check

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.

Report an error
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We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 000.

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 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)). 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.