Wednesday, September 17, 2008

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z SEPTEMBER 17, 2008

Northwestern U.S. and northern California:
Wildfires in Oregon and extreme northwestern California have been burning
through the night and producing extensive smoke across the region. The
fires are burning in Hood River, northeast Douglas and extreme western
Klamath counties in Oregon and in western Siskiyou and eastern Del
Norte counties in California. The smoke is mostly moderately dense to
dense and moving to the west and northwest, covering much of the western
third of Oregon and Washington and extending into the Pacific. The smoke
area then curls to the northeast and was seen tracking across southern
British Columbia.

A small plume of thin smoke was also seen in south central Idaho with a
fire in northwest Camas county. This smoke was drifting to the northeast
but remained within 25 km of the fire.

Northern Plains/western Great Lakes/southern Saskatchewan:
Patchy areas of thin smoke, which originated from the fires in the
Pacific Northwest from the past day or two, were seen from northeast
Montana and southern Saskatchewan drifting eastward across North Dakota
and Minnesota into northern Wisconsin.

Manitoba/Ontario:
An area of aerosol was seen stretching from northeast Manitoba into
northwest Ontario reaching to southern James Bay. The type and origin
of the aerosol is not known but it is possible that it is remnant sulfur
dioxide (SO2) from volcanic eruptions in Alaska in August.

Ruminski


 


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.