DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z July 18, 2014
SMOKE: Canada/U.S: Wildfires occurring throughout the Northwest Territories surrounding Great Bear and Great Slave Lake, northern Saskatchewan, and British Columbia are all producing light to heavy density smoke seen across much of Canada and the contiguous U.S. Light density smoke is seen across most of western and central Canada, as far east as western portions of Quebec, and to the northeast across the Labrador Sea and the western Greenland coastline. Moderate to heavy density smoke is visible in Canada over Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, northern Ontario, and over Hudson Bay. The smoke associated with the Canadian fires is descending southward over the U.S, with light to heavy density smoke encompassing much of the northwestern U.S, Plains region and upper Mississippi Valley. Light to moderate density smoke is seen across north-central U.S, and spreading further eastward, specifically the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes region, upper Mid-Atlantic , and currently extending across southern New York, as well as areas previously mentioned affected by heavy smoke. In addition to smoke associated with the Canadian wildfires, wildfires in Washington state and Oregon that have more recently begun are emitting light to heavy density smoke as well. These smoke plumes are moving eastward, combining with the much broader area of smoke moving southward from Canada. Western U.S. states are most affected by these smoke plumes, specifically Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. California: The Bully wildfire in Shasta County, CA continues to burn and emit light to moderate density smoke across much of northern California. Light density smoke is visible to the south near Sacramento, CA, and northward to the California/Oregon border. DUST: Southwestern U.S: A large area of blowing dust is visible over the southwestern U.S, rotating clockwise over southeastern California, southern Nevada, along the Arizona/Utah border, and extending to the southeast over southwestern New Mexico and western Texas. Heeps 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.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/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