DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z July 20, 2013
Great Lakes/Iowa/Ontario: Thin to moderately dense smoke plume seen moving eastward in the wake of a cold front that is also pushing eastward. The smoke plume extends from Iowa across northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and over southeastern portions of Ontario province. Smoke likely originated from large smoke-producing wildfires burning across the northern Rockies and remnant smoke coming out of central Canada from wildfires located in northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Northern Rockies/Pacific Northwest: An area of thin smoke is seen stretched across northwestern Wyoming/southern Montana and eastern Idaho this morning. Smoke is due to wildfires located across eastern Nevada and Idaho. Another area of thin to moderately dense smoke is more elongated in shape from west to east across northern Montana, northern Idaho, portions of Washington, southern British Columbia and southern Alberta. This area of smoke is believed to be comprised of smoke from wildfires located across northern Idaho and remnant smoke from previous wildfires in Alaska. Central Canada: An area of thin to moderately dense smoke is observed across northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, southeastern Northwest Territories, southern Nanuvut, and the Hudson Bay. Wildfires burning across northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba continue to produce smoke across this area. California: Thin smoke from the Mountain fire in S CA covers the entire Central Valley of CA and the Sierra Nevadas this morning. Moderate smoke is seen just offshore stretching from San Francisco Bay southward. Unknown aerosols/pollutants: Two areas of unknown aerosols (most likely pollutants/haze) are seen across portions of the eastern half of the country. One area extends from Arkansas, southern Missouri, Tennessee up through the Ohio River Valley. The second area of unknown aerosols is along the coastal waters of the Mid-Atlantic and New England where is extends northeast to just south of Nova Scotia. Warren 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