DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z September 15, 2017
SMOKE: California/Pacific Northwest/Central US/Great Lakes Region/Northeastern US/Southern Canada/Northeastern Mexico/North Atlantic... A huge mass of thin density smoke, primarily associated with the ongoing wildfire activity over central Canada and the Northwestern part of the US, was visible over California and the Pacific Northwest extending eastward over the North Central US, the Great Lakes Region, the Northeast, and offshore over a portion of the western Atlantic. The thin density smoke also stretched southward from the North Central US to Texas, northern Mexico, and the western Gulf of Mexico. Over Canada, the thin density smoke covered southern Canada from far southern British Columbia eastward to off the Canadian Maritimes. Within the large area of thin density smoke were patches of embedded thicker smoke. One of these thicker patches was located over southern Ontario and southern Quebec as well as the Great Lakes region. The other thicker area of smoke was present over portions of northern California, Oregon, and Washington. JS Earlier This Morning... DUST: Atlantic Ocean... Saharan dust may have been observed over the central Atlantic to the east of Tropical Storm Jose. As mentioned previously, some of this apparent dust layer may also be smoke that is encroaching on the region. Northern Gulf of California... Blowing dust was observed across northern Baja California and the Colorado River Delta. This dust may also be extending as far north as Yuma, Arizona, as observations at KNYL have shown elevated wind gusts, visibility falling to between 6 and 7 miles, and dust or haze being reported. Hosley 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