DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1645Z September 15, 2009
North Central US/Central Canada: Visible satellite imagery showed a fairly large area of thin remnant smoke and haze stretching from Minnesota and the Dakotas northward through parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Some moderately dense smoke was also observed over Lake Winnipeg with other smaller areas of thin smoke observed over northern Manitoba, southwest Nunavut, and southern Alberta. A light haze could also be seen over southeast South Dakota and western Nebraska but it could not be determined if this was from smoke or other aerosols. This remnant smoke and haze was being wrapped around and into an upper low that continues to push northward across Saskatchewan. Great Lakes Region: Thin to moderately dense smoke and haze was seen along a cold front from southern Michigan stretched across Wisconsin to northern Minnesota where it joined in with other smoke/haze as described above. The origin of this smoke/haze is unknown. Mid-Atlantic Coast: An area of haze, which possibly contains some thin smoke, was seen stretching eastward from the lower Chesapeake Bay, southeast VA, and northeast North Carolina out over the waters of the Atlantic. Several fires were present yesterday in West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina with some that were seen producing smoke last evening. -Sheffler More information on the areas of smoke described above as well as others can be found at the locations listed below. THE FORMAT OF THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS BEING MODIFIED. IT WILL NO LONGER DESCRIBE THE VARIOUS PLUMES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES. THESE PLUMES ARE DEPICTED IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE: JPEG: http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/land/hms.html GIS: http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm KML: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/kml.html THIS TEXT PRODUCT WILL CONTINUE TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF SMOKE WHICH HAVE BECOME DETACHED FROM AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE, TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. IT WILL ALSO STILL INCLUDE DESCRIPTIONS OF BLOWING DUST. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THESE CHANGES OR THE SMOKE TEXT PRODUCT IN GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov