DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z September 24, 2007
Central and Eastern US/Southern and Southeastern Canada: Large areas of haze which may contain some leftover thin smoke were evident this morning in GOES-West imagery with the favorable low sun viewing angle. This region of haze/possible remnant smoke was visible in several areas with some cloudiness in the central US limiting smoke detection somewhat. One area of haze/possible smoke extended from northern Texas (near the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area) northward to southern Iowa. Another swath of haze/possible remnant smoke stretched from northwestern Iowa/southwestern Minnesota to southern Ontario province in southern Canada. Finally, a third large region of haze/possible remnant smoke extended from southeastern Canada (just south of Hudson Bay) southward to the Ohio Valley and central Appalachian region, then southeastward across the Carolinas and off the southeastern coast over the Atlantic. The smoke forecast portion of the following National Weather Service Air Quality Forecast Guidance web site does show smoke forecast to be in some of the region described above... http://www.weather.gov/aq/sectors/conus.php Some of this possible smoke is likely very old leftover smoke from the larger western US wildfires which has become trapped under the large upper level ridge over the eastern US. Other smoke source contributions are likely from a large number of seasonal fires detected during the past several days across the middle Mississippi Valley, and the Southern and Southeastern US. JS