DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z July 12, 2015
SMOKE: Canada/US: Large expanses of smoke, ranging from light to heavy-densities, are visible over extended areas of Canada and US. Due to the wildfires currently burning in southwestern to south central Canada as well as northern/central Saskatchewan, smoke continues to be visible moving eastward from the west. Heavy density smoke spreads across central Saskatchewan and into the northeast US and off the Atlantic coast. Moderately dense smoke is seen across the southern sections of the Northwest Territory and Nunavut into the western sections of the Hudson Bay. Also, across northern/central Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, most of Ontario (not far southwestern section due to clouds), and into western Quebec. In the US the northern Great Lakes region, the northeast US and the Canadian Maritimes/Atlantic Ocean. Lighter smoke is seen as far north as northwest Nunavut, and as far south as northern Montana, North Dakota northeast PA and northern New Jersey. Cloud cover across the Northwest Pacific, western/northern Canada is blocking the view of current and residual smoke from wildfires burning in British Columbia. Alaska: Wildfires located mainly across central Alaska is producing moderately dense to dense smoke westward across central/western Alaska and into the eastern edge of the Bering Sea. The heaviest smoke is in the central section of the state. Overall, northern/central regions of the state are covered by various densities of smoke and spreading eastward as far as the Yukon Territory border. Cloud cover blocks the full view of smoke. DUST Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean/Southern Plains/Mississippi Valley/Southeastern US: An area of Saharan dust is seen moving west in satellite imagery over the Caribbean and crossing over the northern/central Yucatan Peninsula and into the southwestern sections of the Gulf of Mexico. The dust is seen again moving eastward across the eastern edge of the Southern Plains into the Mississippi Valley/Southeast and off the northern Florida, Georgia and southeastern North Carolina coast. The dust in the southeast US and off the Atlantic Coast may be a mix of other aerosols. J Kibler 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