DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0215Z August 20, 2010
UPDATE TO PREVIOUS TEXT DISCUSSION: The vast expanse of smoke described earlier across much of southern Canada and the northern tier of the US is still in place this evening in roughly the same areas as described below. Additional moderate to dense smoke was being pulled north into central and northern Saskatchewan and northeast Alberta by a deep cyclone over the region. Pacific Northwest: An area of light remnant smoke was mixing with light to moderate smoke from active fires over Oregon and Washington and covered much of northern Oregon, the eastern half of Washington, northern Idaho and extending into northwest Montana. Central Sierra Nevada: Light remnant smoke is seen over portions of the central Sierra from fires in the vicinity. The prevailing winds are weak and little movement of the smoke is noted. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOR SMOKE THROUGH 1700Z 8/19: Southern half of Canada and the Northern Tier of the US: A vast amount of smoke, primarily from numerous large wildfires raging in central to west central British Columbia, stretches nearly the entire breadth of southern Canada and dipping into portion of the northern US. Large areas of moderately dense to dense smoke are seen over the southern half of British Columbia and central Alberta. The smoke then fans out to cover most of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, although cloud cover hinders accurate placement and extent of the smoke from eastern Alberta through Saskatchewan. The smoke is becomes mainly thin to moderately dense in Manitoba and western Ontario. Smoke over northeast Saskatchewan, northern Manitoba and northwest Ontario is likely from wildfires burning across northern Saskatchewan. The smoke also dips south into the northern Plains of the US over North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and across the Great Lakes. A band of moderately dense to dense smoke is contained within this area and extends from south central Saskatchewan across northeast North Dakota, northern Minnesota and into northern Wisconsin. There appeared to be a small break in the smoke over the eastern Great Lakes before another pulse of smoke from the British Columbia fires was observed over the St Lawrence Valley, mainly over southern Quebec and mainland Labrador with a little spillover into northern Maine. Most of this smoke area was light, but there was a patch of moderately dense to dense over southern Quebec just north of Maine. Pacific Northwest: A few patches of very thin smoke were seen over north central Oregon, northern Idaho and into extreme northwest Montana, drifting to the east. The source of the smoke is not clear but is likely from fires yesterday in northern Oregon and Washington. Southern California/Southwest Arizona: A patch of light smoke was seen drifting to the east across extreme southeast California into southwest Arizona. This is remnant smoke from fires along the California Mexico border. Northern British Columbia: An area of light to moderately dense smoke was observed over northeast British Columbia which is remnant smoke from fires burning over the northwest portion of the province. This smoke was moving to the east southeast. Northwest Territories: A narrow ribbon of thin smoke was aligned in a north to south orientation and extended from north central Northwest Territories northward off the Arctic coast and reached to just off the west coast of Banks Island. Ruminski 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