DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z July 7, 2011
Great Lakes/Western Ontario: Wildfires from near the Manitoba/Ontario border across west central Ontario were visible through early afternoon before cloudiness moved across the region limiting additional information concerning smoke density in the vicinity of the fires. Farther to the east and southeast of the fires, thin to moderately dense smoke continued to spread to the south and southeast and moved over Lake Superior, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Lake Michigan, Lower Michigan, and eastern Wisconsin. Some of the leading edge of the thinner smoke even made it as far south as Chicago just prior to sunset. Western to Central Canada: Wildfires in northern Alberta and northern Saskatchewan were still emitting moderately dense to dense smoke which generally moved in a southeasterly direction, thinning out as it spread across northern and central Manitoba and northern Ontario eventually linking up with the smoke from the fires in western Ontario described in the paragraph above. New Mexico/Colorado: The wildfires in northwestern New Mexico (Las Conchas/Pacheco fires) were still producing moderately dense to dense smoke which fanned out as it spread to the north and west during the afternoon. A surrounding area of thinner smoke was discernible through breaks in the clouds across southern and eastern Colorado, southern Nebraska, and western and central Kansas. South/Mid-Atlantic US Coast: Moderately dense to dense smoke from the Honey Prairie fire in Georgia moved to the north and north east this morning, mainly along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts. This smoke also extends eastward into the Atlantic Ocean. Additional smoke from the Juniper Rd fire in Pender County, NC is moving to the north and east along the Outer Banks. During the afternoon, cloudiness increased significantly over the region which greatly limited additional information concerning the smoke. South Central US: An area of leftover thin smoke was analyzed earlier in the day across portions of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana which was believed to be mainly from the fires in New Mexico. Later in the day, this aerosol was not as easily seen in satellite imagery and it was unknown how much contribution from smoke was actually present in this region. Upper Mississippi Valley/Ohio Valley/Middle Atlantic Region/Northeast: Patches of aerosol of unknown origin and composition were visible in the area stretching from eastern Iowa to southern Ohio and West Virginia. Another band of aerosol of unknown origin and composition, just to the west of a batch of significant cloudiness, was present from Virginia to Massachusetts. Northwestern US/Southwestern Canada: More aerosol of unknown origin and composition was visible late in the day with the favorable lower sun angle across a large region stretching from Washington and Oregon to the southern portions of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. JS/Myrga 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