Friday, June 15, 2007

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0215Z June 16, 2007

Utah:
A fire in Beaver County of southwest Utah flared up late in the evening
and is producing moderately dense to dense smoke that is moving to the
east northeast.

Alaska:
A fire in Yukon-Koyukuk County in western Alaska is producing a moderately
dense plume of smoke that is spreading to the east of the fire.

Alberta:
The large fires just west of Lake Athabasca continue to produce very dense
smoke. The large group of fires closest to Lake Athabasca are producing
a significant amount of very dense smoke that is moving to the south
reaching the central parts of Alberta.  Further to the west, several
fires are producing moderately dense smoke that is moving to the south.

Quebec:
A fire on the southeastern edge of the Hudson Bay is producing dense
to very dense smoke that is moving to the north northwest and spreading
over the southeastern portion of the Hudson Bay.

In central Quebec, the enormous group of fires continue burning and
producing massive amounts of very dense smoke that is affecting most of
eastern Canada as well as the Great Lakes Region of the United States. The
initial plumes of smoke from these fires are moving to the east, but then
changes direction and is moving back to the southwest.  This enormous
area of smoke stretches to the northeast over New Foundland and into the
Labrador Sea, then down along the southern border of Quebec, eventually
reaching as far southwest as Lake Superior, Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
Also affected by this smoke is northeastern Wisconsin and northern
Michigan.  The densest smoke is found in central/southcentral Quebec.

Central and Northern Mississippi Valley:
Thin to occasionally moderate smoke stretches from northern Arkansas
through all of Missouri into Iowa..southern Minnesota and northern
Wisconsin. The smoke originated from numerous agricultural fires in
northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri the past several days.

The West:
An area of aerosol stretches from central California (roughly from
Santa Barbara to San Francisco) to the northeast across central Nevada,
northern Utah and northwest Wyoming. The source is likely large fires
that were burning in northern China and Mongolia.

Banks/ALS


 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.