Aursee
Wildfires in Matale

Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-12 08:29 UTC
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Fire history, 2012–2025
Detected · VIIRS S-NPP 375 m · 0.01° cells (~1.1 km) · complete years 2012–2025 · built 2026-09-23
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 960 km² of Matale at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 150 km², ranking 13th of 25 regions of Sri Lanka.
Year by year
Detected area per year, km². Area of 0.01° cells with at least one detection in the year.
The busiest year was 2016, with 316 km² detected; the quietest was 2015, with 82 km². The 2021–2025 average is 41% lower than the 2012–2016 average.
Through the year
Share of all fire-days 2012–2025 by month. A fire-day is one cell with a detection on one day.
August, September and October together hold 61% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 11 October 2016, with detections in 19 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 960 km² with at least one detection, 30% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 451 | 47% |
| 2 years | 221 | 23% |
| 3 to 5 years | 241 | 25% |
| 6 to 10 years | 48 | 5.0% |
| 11 years or more | 0.0 | 0.0% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at 7.75, 80.75 and holds 94% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 206 | 193 |
| 2013 | 129 | 129 |
| 2014 | 193 | 188 |
| 2015 | 82 | 72 |
| 2016 | 316 | 347 |
| 2017 | 155 | 192 |
| 2018 | 103 | 88 |
| 2019 | 220 | 214 |
| 2020 | 160 | 154 |
| 2021 | 88 | 78 |
| 2022 | 92 | 80 |
| 2023 | 145 | 138 |
| 2024 | 113 | 98 |
| 2025 | 104 | 104 |
Other regions of Sri Lanka
- Anuradhapura1,160 km² in an average year
- Monaragala678 km² in an average year
- Ampara633 km² in an average year
- Badulla426 km² in an average year
- Polonnaruwa364 km² in an average year
- Kurunegala353 km² in an average year
- How these figures are madeDetected area, cells, and the single-satellite record.
Detected area counts every 0.01° cell with at least one VIIRS detection, so a small fire counts as a whole cell and a fire missed by cloud or between passes is absent. Borders: Natural Earth 1:10m. 2012 begins on 20 January.
Nearby regions
- Polonnaruwa55 km
- Kurunegala55 km
- Batticaloa55 km
- Anuradhapura55 km
- Kandy55 km
- Trincomalee78 km