DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0245Z September 15, 2011
Southeastern US: A large area of thin density smoke mainly attributed to fires in northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia covered a large area stretching from eastern Georgia and southwestern South Carolina to west central Florida and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Localized patches of moderately dense to dense smoke were visible closer to the fires. Most of the smoke over Florida and the Gulf of Mexico was moving in a southwesterly direction, while smoke farther to the north in Georgia showed little movement during the afternoon. Middle Atlantic Region/Northeastern US/Far Southeastern Canada/Northwestern Atlantic: An aerosol of unknown origin and composition was seen in visible satellite imagery stretching from the Middle Atlantic region to the Northeast and far southeastern Canada. From there, the aerosol spread eastward over the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. It is possible that some of this aerosol is composed of remnant smoke from some of the fires in the Southeastern US as well as the large fire burning in northeastern Minnesota. Great Lakes Region: Some smoke was visible through breaks in the clouds emanating from the ongoing fire in northeastern Minnesota. The smoke moved in a southeasterly direction across portions of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Cloudiness in the region though did interfere with the extent of the smoke seen in satellite imagery associated with this fire. Northwestern US/Southwestern Canada: Fires continued to be detected across portions of Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Moderately dense to locally dense smoke was analyzed moving to the southeast in the vicinity of the most concentrated area of fires over east central Idaho and western Montana. A much larger area of thin density smoke covered a good portion of the Northwestern US as well as southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta provinces in southwestern Canada. JS 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