Monday, June 14, 2010

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z June 14, 2010

Northern Canada:
Remnant smoke that probably originated mostly from wildfires in Alaska was
seen over the Northwest Territories and into west central Nunavut. This
smoke was mostly thin with a few patches of moderately dense smoke. An
active wildfire north of the Great Slave Lake was also adding new smoke to
the atmosphere. Another area of aerosol believed to be thin remnant smoke
was seen over northern Hudson Bay but it is unknown whether the smoke
came from northwest Canada or from the fires in south central Canada.

Northern US Plains/Southern and Eastern Canada:
An extensive area of smoke stretched across much of Saskatchewan/Manitoba
eastward across north Ontario, central Quebec, southeast Labrador, and off
the coast over the Labrador Sea. Smoke also stretched southward into parts
of the northern US states of Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. While
the remnant smoke off the coast was fairly thin in appearance, a large
area of moderately dense smoke covered northern Ontario and along the
border of North Dakota and Manitoba. Numerous large fires burning for
several days in Saskatchewan, southeast Northwest Territories, and
central Quebec have contributed to the massive amount of smoke seen
today. Many of the wildfires mentioned in these provinces were still
producing significant smoke this morning.

Alaska/Yukon Territory/Northwest British Columbia:
A large area of thin to moderately dense remnant smoke over Alaska
stretched from the Artic Ocean to southeast Alaska and the western Yukon
Territory. A cyclonic circulation that was over the Gulf of Alaska
yesterday had pulled a strand of thin smoke further southward with
another patch of smoke present along the northern British Columbia coast.

Northern Alberta:
An area of thin unknown aerosol was present over northeast Alberta as
it was pulled northward by a low pressure center.

Gulf of Mexico/Southeast US:
An area of aerosol was observed along the Texas coastline and across
much of the northern Gulf of Mexico extending northeastward across
northern Florida, southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina across
the Atlantic. While there may some remnant smoke in this aerosol it is
likely a mix of multiple aerosols.

Sheffler


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


 


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.