DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z June 9, 2013
***PLEASE NOTE: GOES-13 has been replaced with GOES-14. GOES-14 is centered at 00N105W which is 30 degrees further west than GOES-13. This position has an impact on the ability to detect smoke, particularly light smoke in the evening, compared to GOES-13. It is possible that areas of light smoke that would be detected previously are now not discernible.*** Mexico: A large area of thin remnant smoke is visible over northern/northwest Mexico and the Gulf of California. This smoke is from fires burning in western and northwest Mexico. New Mexico/West Texas/Northeast Mexico: An area of thin smoke mixed with blowing dust was seen over north central to southeast New Mexico, west Texas, and northeast Mexico. The smoke has mostly come from the Thompson Ridge fire in northern New Mexico. Blowing dust could be seen just west and southwest of El Paso, TX. Southern Saskatchewan to East Oklahoma: An aerosol that is believed to mostly be elevated dust, possibly with some being from Asia and some being from the High Plains, was seen from south Saskatchewan/east Montana southeast across the northern and central Plains to eastern Oklahoma. Canada: A large plume of light to heavy density smoke is visible as a result of numerous wildfires taking place in central Manitoba. The smoke is moving north, towards Hudson Bay. Remnant smoke ranging from light to moderate density is also visible from the previous days fires is also still present in the provinces of central Nunavut, Manitoba, NE Saskatchewan, and Ontario. Gulf of Mexico/Southeast US Coast: A large area of Saharan dust is visible over the western/southern Caribbean and the eastern Gulf of Mexico stretching northeastward across central and northern Florida and along the coast of the Southeast US. Central/Eastern Canada: An extensive area of thin to moderately dense smoke continued to be seen from southern Nunavut/western Hudson Bay southeast across Manitoba, Ontario, southern Hudson Bay, western Quebec, and the northern Great Lakes. This smoke comes from several wildfires burning in northwest Ontario and northern Manitoba. The smoke seen over southern Hudson Bay/west central Quebec likely had wrapped north across Nunavut several days ago and is now sinking southward again. Most of the rest of the smoke is spreading northwest (across Nunavut) and southeast (towards the Northeastern US). Alaska: An aerosol stretched southwest-northeast across central Alaska/northern and central Yukon Territory/northwest Northwest Territories. This aerosol may be a mixture of Asian smoke and possibly some Asian dust based on aerosol models. Sheffler THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF 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