Striking aerial photos show severity of California wildfires

Tim Chester
Updated

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti declared a state of emergency in the city Tuesday as several wildfires continued to rage across the region.

Blazes in Santa Clarita, Santa Ana and Ventura County claimed tens of thousands of acres between them and filled the southern Californian skies with smoke — so much smoke in fact, they left trails visible from space.

SEE ALSO: Surreal scenes of devastation across Southern California from unrelenting wildfires

NASA's striking satellite image, above, gives a good feel for the scope of the smoke, as did pictures posted by meteorologists on Twitter Tuesday.

The skies won't be clearing any time soon, either. The National Weather Service is warning of continued gusty, dry Santa Ana winds through Friday, which could help fuel more flames. One meteorologist on Twitter described the situation as a "wildfire siege."

The Thomas Fire in Ventura alone has burned at least 50,000 acres and forced over 27,000 people to evacuate. About 150,000 were affected by evacuation orders of some kind in Los Angeles, according to CNN. The Creek Fire was burning in the hills just to the north downtown LA.

These fires come at the tail end of what is the worst wildfire season in California history, after fires destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and killed more than 40 people in northern California in October. 

Science editor Andrew Freedman contributed reporting.

WATCH: California wildfire victims returning to their destroyed homes is absolutely heart-wrenching

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