Sunday, September 09, 2007

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z September 10, 2007

Alaska:
The bright fire in the central North Slope, north of the Brooks Range, is
under dense cloud cover so it is difficult to see its smoke plume. However
surface reports of smoke near the north coast of Alaska suggest that the
plume extends from the fire toward the north and northeast.  Last night
the smoke was moderate to dense and tonight it is likely to be at least
this dense since the fire continues to have a strong satellite signature
even under cloud cover.

Idaho and Montana:
The numerous persistent fires in central Idaho are producing dense smoke
that is moving southward and southeastward.  Most of Idaho except extreme
northern Idaho is covered by smoke, although southeastern Idaho has only
light smoke.  Some of the light smoke extends into southern Montana.
In addition, in Montana fires in Flathead County and Teton County are
producing moderate smoke plumes that extend eastward and northwestward
respectively.

California and Nevada:
In California, the fire along the Santa Clara County/Stanislaus County
border is producing mostly light smoke that extends westward over the
Pacific.  The Moonlight Fire in the northeastern Sierra Nevada Mountains
is producing very abundant dense smoke moving primarily northeastward
into Nevada but also spreading in all directions and covering much of
northern California (excluding extreme northern California) and northern
Nevada (excluding extreme northwestern Nevada).  Elsewhere in California
(especially central California) there is haze that could be mixed with
remnant smoke from previous days Moonlight or Santa Clara/Stanislaus
fires.

Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Central Plains:
Mostly light with some moderate smoke covers much of northern Utah,
Wyoming, and extreme northern and northeastern Colorado.  This smoke is
from both the Moonlight Fire in northern California and the numerous
fires in central Idaho.  The smoke might extend even farther reaching
the Plains but cloud cover prevents its detection there.

Oregon and Washington:
A fire in southern Polk County, Oregon that had a light smoke plume
extending westward well over the Pacific seems to have become less
strong in the past few hours and its plume also seems to have somewhat
dissipated.  A fire in Chelan County, Washington is also less noticeable
in satellite imagery in the past few hours and its southwestward plume
has also partly dissipated.


 


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.