DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600z September 03, 2006
California: Fires in the Siskyou and Salmon Mountains (Trinity and Siskiyou counties) are producing areas of thick smoke moving north and northwest into southwest Oregon. Further north over western Oregon and offshore and into western Washington and southwest British Columbia the smoke is thinner. A fire in central El Dorado county has produced a narrow, thin plume of smoke that lifted north into Sierra county. Oregon: Extensive clouds over much of central and southeast Oregon are hindering smoke detection this morning. However, several fires were analyzed over the state yesterday and smoke was detected last evening raising the likelihood that some remnant smoke is mixed in with the clouds. Washington/British Columbia/Alberta: The very large fires burning in the Okanogan National Forest (Okanogan county) are continuing to produce enormous and thick smoke plumes that are moving north and then northeast into British Columbia and Alberta. The thickest smoke is over south central and southeast British Columbia and northern Washington with the leading edge extending into central Alberta. An area of thinner remnant smoke is seen extending from northeast British Columbia across portions of northern Alberta. Another very large fire burning in the Umatilla National Forest (Columbia/Garfield counties) is emitting thick smoke that is fanning out to the east, north and west. The smoke reaches across Franklin and Walla Walla counties to the west and extends east across northern Idaho and into western Montana. Idaho: Fires continue to burn across central Idaho in Valley, Idaho, Clearwater and Boise counties. Much of this smoke has settled in the surrounding valleys and is dense while some of the smoke has lifted into the atmosphere and mixed with the smoke from the fires in southeast Washington and drifted into western Montana. Montana/Wyoming: Multiple fires Park and Sweet Grass counties in southwest Montana continue to produce smoke that is locally dense in the valleys. Thinner smoke from the fires has drifted to the southeast into Wyoming. This smoke is mainly along and east of the Rockies across Park, Hot Springs, Fremont and Carbon counties. Additional thin smoke seen over Sublette and Sweetwater counties is believed to be from fires last night in Sublette and Teton counties. Manitoba/Saskatchewan: Remnant thin smoke from the fires in the Northwest US is seen stretching across northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan south of Lake Athabasca and north of Reindeer Lake. The smoke is moving east. A small area of moderately dense smoke is lifting north along the west central Saskatchewan border with Alberta. Ontario: Several active fires over west central and central Ontario are producing mainly narrow plumes of moderately dense smoke. This smoke is moving east toward James Bay. Some thin remnant smoke has also settled south across southwest Ontario to the US border area. Eastern Canada: An area of thin remnant smoke from the western US fires is seen over eastern portions of the Gulf of St Lawrence and extending from Nova Scotia southeast into the open Atlantic. Ruminski