DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z July 8, 2015
SMOKE: Northern Alaska: An area of light density remnant smoke was seen in northern Alaska moving west into the Chukcki Sea ahead of abundant cloud cover over most of Alaska. This area of remnant smoke originated from wildfires in central Alaska the last few days. Canada/Pacific Northwest/Northern Plains/Great Lakes: An area of light to moderate remnant smoke was observed over British Columbia moving to the southeast into Alberta with a stream of moderate smoke moving through southern Alberta into southern Saskatchewan. Wildfires in southeastern Yukon, northern and central British Columbia contributed to this area of smoke which has also merged with light to moderate density smoke over the Pacific Northwest that was produced from wildfires in southern British Columbia. From this smoke in the Pacific Northwest, a band of moderate smoke extended eastward through Montana, the Dakotas, northern Minnesota, and northern Wisconsin. Heavy smoke was seen over central Saskatchewan moving south towards the North Dakota border where it has met up with an area of moderate remnant smoke produced from wildfires in British Columbia. Light density smoke was observed over most of the Central Plains and Great Lakes regions where areas were not obscured by clouds. Dense smoke produced from wildfires in central Saskatchewan yesterday was see ahead of a frontal boundary in central Manitoba and the northwestern border of Ontario moving eastward. Another area of light density smoke was seen over Ontario and Hudson Bay and probably extended further east into eastern Quebec where smoke was observed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence although clouds from a large storm system reduced any chance for an observation of smoke in Quebec. Eastern US: A larger area of light density residual smoke was seen in the eastern US spanning from the panhandle of Florida to Maine. This area of smoke can be seen out ahead of clouds associated with convection over the Midwest and Central Plains and originated from Canadian wildfires. DUST: Gulf of Mexico/Southern U.S/Atlantic Ocean: An area of Saharan dust is once again seen in GOES satellite imagery over the southwest Gulf of Mexico and portions of the western Caribbean. Dust is not discernible inland over east Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley, but aerosol models do show that the dust extends as far north as Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. An arm of dust also extends northward across the Bahamas and then gently curves to the northeast well off the coast of the Carolinas. -Cronin 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