DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z SEPTEMBER 20, 2008
Pacific Northwest: Extensive cloud cover makes it impossible to detect smoke in the first visible satellite images this morning. Northern Great Plains and Great Lakes: Residual smoke from fires in the Pacific Northwest stretched from central Alberta southeastward across southern Saskatchewan, southwest Manitoba, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The smoke was particularly heavy from east central South Dakota through southern Minnesota into central Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. California: Locally dense smoke is seen in the valleys around the ongoing fires in eastern Fresno and northern Tulare counties. The smoke thins out beyond about 10 km from the fires.