Tuesday, September 7, 2010

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0315Z September 8, 2010

Kansas and Colorado:
An area of light smoke can be seen moving northwest towards the
Kansas/Colorado border. The smoke is likely originating from a fire
burning in southwest Kansas but the actual fire was not detected in
satellite imagery.

Nevada and Idaho:
Blowing dust is seen from dry lake beds in northwest Nevada and
west/central Nevada moving east-northeast. Another area of thinner blowing
dust is seen spreading northward across east/central Idaho. The source
is unknown.

Earlier Today:

Lower Mississippi Valley/Ohio Valley/Central Great Lakes:
An area of light smoke is seen across portions of the lower Mississippi
Valley then northward across the Ohio Valley and over most of the central
Great Lakes.  The area of smoke also stretches back toward the west along
the Iowa/Missouri border. Origins of the smoke are likely from numerous
agricultural fires that were producing smoke yesterday across the lower
Mississippi Valley region in addition to a large wildfire that continues
to burn west of Boulder, CO.

Colorado:
An area of light to moderate smoke is seen along the Colorado
foothills. The smoke is from a wildfire burning west of Boulder, CO.

Central California:
A wildfire in east central California along the southeastern edge of
Fresno county is producing moderately dense to dense smoke moving to
the northeast.

Warren/Earle

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.