Smoke from West Coast wildfires crosses Atlantic Ocean to reach Finland

Smoke in the upper atmosphere from wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington has crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Finland, satellite images show.

The World Meteorological Organization posted a satellite image Monday to Twitter showing particulate matter from the fires streaming across the ocean over Scandinavia and Finland, with another swirl over Great Britain.

But the particulates are probably too high in the atmosphere to be noticed from the ground, KRON reported. That wasn’t the case on the West Coast, where choking clouds of smoke blanketed several states for days.

Hundreds of deadly lightning-sparked wildfires have torched millions of acres, forcing mass evacuations in California, Oregon and Washington since August.

The National Weather Service and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration have released earlier satellite photos showing smoke from the blazes drifting across the U.S. and being sucked into a swirling Pacific storm.

This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Smoke from West Coast wildfires crosses Atlantic Ocean to reach Finland."