DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0245Z September 16, 2011
Gulf of Mexico/Southeast US/Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US: 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, Georgia, and South Carolina. The smoke originated mainly from fires in southeastern Georgia and northeastern Florida. Elongated plumes of moderately dense to locally dense smoke were observed moving to the east from these fires reaching as far as the Florida and Georgia Atlantic coasts. An aerosol of unknown origin and composition is also 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 and Southeast regions or they could be days old remnants from the much larger wildfires of the past week in the Pacific Northwest. Another region of aerosol of unknown origin and composition was present across much of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Some remnant smoke, particularly from the larger southeastern Georgia and northeastern Florida fires may be a component of this aerosol. Great Lakes Region: The Pagami Creek wildfire in northeast Minnesota continues to emit light to moderate density smoke which spread to the southeast across far western Lake Superior, and over the western portion of Michigan's upper peninsula and far northern Wisconsin. Northwestern US/Southwestern Canada: Only a relatively small patch of smoke was barely discernible between breaks in the clouds over east central Idaho and western Montana, closer to the region where numerous fires have been ongoing. More smoke is likely present across a larger portion of the northwestern US and southwestern Canada, but extensive cloud cover is preventing detection in satellite imagery. JS/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