DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0530Z JULY 6, 2008
Mid Atlantic Coast: Extensive cloud cover is hindering a good look at the smoke from the ongoing fires in the Great Dysmal Swamp and in Hyde county North Carolina. Occasional breaks in the clouds did allow for some light to moderately dense smoke to be seen extending to the east and northeast of the fires across the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina and Virginia Beach into the Atlantic. As evening wore on, the smoke plume from the fire in Hyde county began to turn to a more northerly direction. California: Clouds have moved into northern California making smoke detection in this area difficult. However, before the clouds moved in a broad area of smoke could be seen over much of northern California with the thickest smoke seen over the northern Sacramento Valley into the northern Sierra. The large fires in Monterey, northeast Kern and southern Santa Barbara counties continue to burn and produce large areas of thick smoke. Smoke from the Monterey county fire was moving to the south off the coast and also to the east into western San Benito county by sunset. Thick smoke from the northeast Kern county fire was moving to the northeast into southern Inyo county. Smoke from the Santa Barbara county fire was fanning out in both an east and west direction and covering much of the county. A burst of light smoke was seen from a fire in extreme southeast Los Angeles county that drifted to the east across extreme southwest San Bernardino. Much of Southern Canada/The Northern Plains and western Great Lakes: A large area of smoke was seen covering much of southern Canada from southern Alberta across southern Saskatchewan, southern and central Manitoba, southern and central Ontario and southern Quebec. The smoke also covered mucjh of the High Plains and Northern Plains of the US from from northern Idaho across northern Montana, the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Wisonsin, northern Michigan and southern Indiana. Much of the smoke was thin with the thickest areas over portions of Illinois and just north and east of Gerogian Bay in southern Ontario and southwest Qubec. This smoke was a combination of residual smoke from the large numers of fires in northern California and in northern Saskatchewan. Alaska and Northwestern Canada: Two fires are producing plumes of thick smoke in eastern Alaska. One fire was about 55 km to the south-southeast of Fort Yukon and the other about 50 km to the north of Fort Yukon. By 0530Z the plume from the mopre northerly fire extended about 275km tp the southwest while the larger blaze to the south of Fort Yukon had its plume extend to the southwest nearly the width of Alaska reaching to at least Aniak. Residual smoke from the fires in northern Canada was seen over portions of the north slope of Alaska, the northern Northwest Territories and northern Yukon and also extended into the Arctic. A fire off the northwest shore of Great Slave Lake had a narrow plume of moderately dense smoke that was extending to the west about 175 km. Ruminski