DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1745Z September 15, 2011
Southeast US/Mid-Atlantic: Thin density remnant smoke covers northern Florida and southeast Georgia as well as the far eastern Gulf of Mexico and far western Atlantic ocean adjacent to the Florida peninsula this morning. The smoke originated from fires in the area that continued to burn overnight. Elongated plumes of moderate density smoke are observed near the sources of the fires and are moving east northeast as far as the Florida and Georgia Atlantic coasts. An aerosol of unknown origin and composition is seen in visible satellite imagery stretching along the Atlantic coast from central Florida as far north as Massachusetts. This aerosol is likely composed of both pollutants and remnant smoke aerosols that are being swept ahead of the approaching cold front. Remnant smoke aerosols could have originated from the smaller, local fires in the mid Atlantic region or they could be days old remnants from the much larger wildfires of last week in the pacific northwest. Great Lakes Region: The Pagami Creek wildfire in northeast Minnesota continues to emit light density smoke this morning. The smoke plume is traveling in the southeast direction across far west Lake Superior and towards the western tip of Michigan's upper peninsula. Through 18Z, the smoke is not quite reaching Wisconsin or Michigan. Northwestern US/Southwestern Canada: Remnant smoke is likely still present in these regions, but heavy cloud cover has prevented the detection of smoke this morning. 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