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Abstract: From a meteorological perspective, the early August 2003 heatwave was characterized by very high maximum and minimum temperatures, extremely low humidity levels and relatively intense wind speed. These conditions triggered the most devastating
sequence of large fires ever registered in Portugal. The estimated total burnt area was about 450.000 ha, including 280.000 ha of forest. The outstanding total burnt area value corresponds to roughly 5% of the Portuguese territory, and represents approximately
twice the previous maximum observed in 1998 (220.000 ha), and about four times the long-term average observed between 1980 and 2004. The main aims of this
work are twofold, namely: to evaluate the exceptionality of summer 2003 fire season in Portugal using a wealth of fire scars information obtained on the ground and with satellite images retrieved from AVHRR, MODIS, and Landsat; and, (b) to characterize
the atmospheric circulation patterns and anomalous weather characteristics over Portugal that led to such an extreme fire season. In particular, to assess, when and where, the low tropospheric temperatures did surpassed observed historical maxima.