DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

Pacific Northwest/northern California/southwest Canada:
Wildfires in Oregon and extreme northwestern California continued to
burn and produce smoke throughout the night. The fires are in Douglas,
Jackson, Klamath and Hood River counties in Oregon and in Siskiyou county
in California. The smoke this morning was mainly moving to the north and
northwest of the fires and extends off the coast into the Pacific. It was
moderately dense to locally dense over the western third of Washington
and Oregon. The smoke then thins out as it curls to the northeast and
then to the east and is seen streaming across southern British Columbia,
southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan and into southern Manitoba. An
area of moderately dense smoke about 75 km wide extends from near Mt
Hood to the southeast into southwest Idaho and reaching the the border
in northeast Nevada.

Southern California:
Fires in western Fresno and northern Tulare counties have produced an
area of moderately dense smoke that has settled into the valleys near the
fires with a small area of light smoke that is elevated and dispersing
over other areas in the eastern parts of the counties.

Great Lakes Region:
Areas of remnant thin smoke from the western fires were seen over part
of Lake Superior and the upper peninsula of
Michigan and a separate area of thin smoke over eastern Indiana, southwest
Ohio and northern Kentucky.

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.