DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z August 14, 2010

Washington:
Dry conditions and an easterly wind have caused old volcanic ash from
Mount St. Helens to be resuspended. The ash is being carried approximately
70 miles to the northwest of the summit.

Pacific Northwest and southwest British Columbia:
Numerous wildfires continue to rage over west central British Columbia
and generate a large area of moderately dense to dense smoke which is
moving to the west into the Pacific then take a more southerly track
off the Washington and Oregon coasts. This area of smoke extends over
500 miles from the origin of the fires in British Columbia.

Eastern Canada:
Thin remnant smoke caught in the high can be seen off the coast of New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland where it is moving southwest
into the waters off New England.

Yukon:
Several wildfires in southeast Yukon continue to produce moderately
dense to dense plumes of smoke that are mainly moving southeast across
northeastern British Columbia and central Alberta.

Lower Mississippi/Tennessee Valley:
A large area of light to moderate aerosol was seen stretching across
Arkansas, Tennessee, northern Mississippi and Alabama. This are is most
likely from haze pollution with little contribution from remnant smoke.

MS

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.