DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1415Z June 19, 2011
United States Eastern Seaboard: Fires from SE GA and NE Florida continue to emit copious amounts of moderate to dense smoke that is expanding across N and C FL into the NE Gulf of Mexico as well as being pulled east then northeastward across the Atlantic out past 68W as far south as 28N and north to 40N where is melds with smoke coming out of N Saskatchewan/Alberta but at different levels (Canada smoke is much higher in the jet streak, FL/GA smoke is mid to low level). Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi River Valley: Numerous fires across AZ, NM, TX and the high ridges of the Sierra Madre Oriental and Occidental in Mexico have combined in a large thin to moderately dense smoke plume that covers much of the south central US from KS/NE boarder south into Central MX from the OK/TX panhandles (Western Panhandle into Chihuahua deserts too) to W TN and NW MS. This smoke area is nearly perfectly oriented with the midlevel Ridge across the region. Canada: Complex weather pattern over Northern Canada is leading to large areas of smoke moving in different locations but the source appears to be all the same from fires in N Saskatchewan/Alberta and SE NW Territories. A narrow ribbon of moderately dense smoke (bounded by thin smoke particularly Southwestward) can be seen extending south from Victoria Island arcing back east around a weak shortwave ridge across southern Nunavut into central Hudson Bay then arching back south across E Hudson into W Quebec just E of James Bay...then feeds into very strong jet streak around SW side of cyclone (over St. Lawrence Seaway)...becoming too difficult to track but eventually melding with smoke from GA/FL fires mentioned above just south of Nova Scotia. A well defined cyclone over central Alberta/Saskatchewan boarder is pulling moderately dense smoke from yesterday's fire emissions back toward the west along the Territory boarder as far west as BC/Alberta line. The area can be seen as far east as N Manitoba and far SW Nunavut. Alaska: Thin smoke can be seen moving eastward in wave packets across N Alaska into the Yukon Territory and W NW Territories (embedded in smaller scale cyclones). The origin of this smoke is likely from fires across N Canada that was pulled north across the polar region and has wrapped back around, however, this cannot be confirmed and could be from Asian fires. It is thin and remains typically north of the Brooks range. Other thin pockets of smoke south of the Brooks Range are likely related to ongoing fires across the central Yukon River Valley. Gallina THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS SMOKE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES AND SMOKE WHICH HAS BECOME DETACHED FROM THE FIRES AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE..TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ARE ALSO DESCRIBED. USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VIEW A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF THESE AND OTHER PLUMES WHICH ARE LESS EXTENSIVE AND STILL ATTACHED TO THE SOURCE FIRE 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 ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov