Friday, August 19, 2011

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z August 20, 2011

Ohio Valley:
An area of haze, which is likely remnant smoke from fires in the northwest
extends east to west from western Illinois to the Pennsylvania/Ohio
border.

Central US:
Remnant smoke from fires in the northwest can be seen extending from
Wisconsin, south through Illinois, Missouri and into Arkansas.

Gulf of Mexico:
Light smoke remains along the Louisiana coast and the western Gulf of
Mexico along the Texas coastline.  The full extent of the smoke cannot
be determined because it becomes obscured when it makes landfall.

Wyoming:
The Norton Point fire near the southeastern edge of Yellowstone continues
to generate dense smoke which extends east across the state reaching
the South Dakota border.

Idaho:
The Otter fire in northern Idaho is emitting moderately dense to dense
smoke which is fanning out to the south and east.

Nevada:
Blowing dust is originating from the eastern border of Esmeralda County
and traveling to the north.


Earlier:
Northern and Central Plains:
A large area of light to moderately dense smoke was seen in a broad
arc from west central to east central South Dakota then curling to the
southeast across western Iowa and into Missouri. This smoke is likely
from the Norton Point fire in the Shoshone National Forest in Fremont
county in northwest Wyoming. A small patch of light remnant smoke was
observed tracking across west central Minnesota, likely originating from
last evening's fires in western Montana and northern Idaho.

Illinois:
Much of Illinois had an area of light smoke that was only slowly drifting
to the east and is likely from the Ray May fire in western Nevada from
2 days ago.

Texas:
Several patches of light smoke were seen over central and western Texas
that were drifting to the west. The origin is not certain but possibly
from the numerous agricultural fires from the Florida Panhandle through
Louisiana the past couple of days.

Mid-Atlantic to New England Coast:
Smoke from the Lateral West fire in the Great Dismal Swamp along the North
Carolina/Virginia border was seen lifting to the north-northeast this
morning and extending across the lower Chesapeake Bay to the southern
Delmarva. Another area of smoke from the fire is seen over southeast
New England and across Massachusetts Bay toward the southwest tip of
Nova Scotia.

Bahamas:
An area of light suspended dust was noted again this morning over the
eastern Bahamas. The dust has tracked across the Atlantic from the Sahara.

Ruminski/Salemi


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.