DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z August 3, 2015
SMOKE Alaska: An area of light density remnant smoke originating from Asia was seen crossing the Chukchi Sea and Bering Straight ESE into northwestern and west-central Alaska. Clouds obscured the full extent of this area of smoke in northern and central Alaska. Northwestern Canada/Central Canada/North Dakota: A band of light to moderate density smoke was observed from the west-central border of the Northwest Territories through northwestern Nunavut into Victoria Island. This area of smoke was generated by wildfires in central Alaska and was slowly tracking ENE. An expansive area of diffuse remnant smoke that also originated from Alaskan wildfires was seen spanning through northern Nunavut, the eastern portions of the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and into North Dakota. This area of smoke was tracking to the SE on the western periphery of a well defined shortwave trough seen in water vapor satellite imagery. Cloud cover to the east obscured the full extent of this smoke in Manitoba, Ontario, Hudson Bay and Quebec. Embedded within this area of diffuse smoke were several light to moderate density smoke plumes seen moving to the southeast in central Saskatchewan while light to moderate density smoke plumes observed north of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories were moving to the northwest. Pacific Northwest/Central US/British Columbia: Multiple areas of light to heavy density smoke in between cloud cover in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia into the central US was observed this evening. These areas of smoke originated from wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and southern British Columbia. Patches of heavy density smoke were seen in north-central Montana and northern Washington into northern Idaho and were moving to the east. Light to moderate density smoke extended from the Pacific Northwest into the Midwest states as far east as West Virginia. It was difficult to determine the southern boundary of smoke from the Northern Plains into the Southern Plains but there was most likely a mix between smoke and Saharan dust in the Central Plains. DUST Western Gulf Coast/Southern US/Mid-Atlantic States: An enormous area of Saharan dust that is optically thick is visible from the Caribbean, west into the Gulf of Mexico as well as north along the eastern US seaboard. Less dense Saharan dust is seen in the Southern Plains, parts of the Central Plains, the US southeast, and the Mid-Atlantic states. -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