DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z August 11, 2011
Mid-Atlantic Coast: A large area of unknown aerosol is observed off the East Coast of the US stretching from New England southward to the northern Bahamas. This elongated area of aerosol is positioned to the east of and along a stationary frontal boundary. There is a significant smoke contribution from the Lateral West wildfire in Suffolk City County, VA that is confined to the western Atlantic off the states of Virginia and North Carolina. Thin to moderate density smoke extends well offshore in a nearly due east trajectory this evening while thick to very dense remnant smoke is observed closer to the coast. From this morning: The smoke actively coming from this fire this morning had been directed due southward but started turning to the east by midday. Dakotas: A relatively small area of moderate to thick density smoke is present near the North Dakota-South Dakota border, with equal parts of the remnant smoke in each state. The smoke has mainly originated from a fire on the South Dakota side and is moving to the southeast as it disperses. Western and central Canada: Smoke detection in Canada is limited this evening due to cloud cover. In cloud breaks, an area of light smoke can be seen stretching from the east side of Great Slave Lake in southeast Northwest Territories southeast into northern Saskatchewan and central Manitoba as far east as the Ontario border. This smoke is likely remnant from yesterday's fires in northern Alberta/southeast Northwest Territories Hawaii: Smoke was observed today on Maui from approximately 1700Z-1900Z. The smoke was mostly thin density but had an embedded strip of moderately dense smoke. The direction of movement was almost due west except for a slightly southward component. The smoke reached as far west as Lanai Island. Ramirez 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