Tuesday, August 16, 2011

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z August 17, 2011

Ontario/Great Lakes Region:
A plume of thin smoke was situated ahead of a storm system that was
moving across southern Canada. This plume stretched from just west of
James Bay southeast across Ontario to Lake Huron where the plume became
more patchy. Additional aerosol believed to be patches of thin smoke
was seen lifting northward over Lake Michigan, the U.P. of Michigan,
and eastern Lake Superior. Most of this smoke is thought to have come
from the fires in western Ontario that were producing smoke yesterday.

Northern Plains/Midwest:
An aerosol extends from northeast Wyoming/southeast Montana eastward
across South Dakota and then northeast across Minnesota this evening
wrapping into the upper low as it reaches southwest Ontario. This aerosol
is thought to be blowing dust that was transported by strong winds across
eastern Montana/northeast Wyoming today. There is also a possibility
though that the aerosol is made up of a mixture of dust and smoke from
the numerous fires in ID/WY/MT/OR/WA.

Mid Atlantic coast:
The Lateral West fire in the Great Dismal Swamp along the VA/NC border
continued to smoke this evening producing moderately dense to dense
smoke that extended eastward across the Atlantic.

Northwest Atlantic:
Unknown aerosol extends northeast from the Mid-Atlantic along a frontal
boundary to the coast of Nova Scotia. An area of the aerosol that
appeared more dense and concentrated was thought to be remnant smoke
from the Lateral West fire mentioned above.

Intermountain West/Pacific Northwest:
An area of expanding smoke covered much of the Great Basin this evening
from northern Nevada/northwest Utah/southern Idaho northeast to southwest
Montana/west and southern Wyoming. Numerous fires across Idaho are the
main smoke contributors although there are also a few fires in Wyoming
also producing smoke. In southwest Idaho, the smoke was considered
moderately dense to dense. Other unknown aerosol covered portions of
Oregon/Washington/northern Idaho/Montana although there is good chance
that smoke from the numerous fires has mixed with this other aerosol.

Louisiana Coast:
The area of unknown aerosol seen over the western Gulf of Mexico this
morning is now thought to be mostly remnant smoke from the recent increase
in agricultural fires over the southern Mississippi River Valley. A
large number of these fires were smoke producing this evening and Air
Quality Forecast Guidance showed above surface smoke off and along the
Louisiana coast this evening.

Sheffler


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

 


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.