DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2350Z August 1, 2020
SMOKE: Canada and Northern US... A large area of light-to-moderate density smoke originated from previous days wildfire activity in Siberia currently covers most of Canada west of Ontario. Some of the lighter density smoke extends further to the south over northeastern Montana, North Dakota, and northern South Dakota. The smoke is moving predominantly towards the east-southeast in the general direction of Ontario and the Great Lakes. California... Light-density and mostly stagnant smoke is seen stretching from the coastal areas of San Jose, passing over San Francisco and extending into the Sacramento Valley. Meanwhile, the Red Salmon fire complex in northwestern California gained intensity in the afternoon releasing moderate-to-heavy density smoke towards the north and across the Oregon state border. The Apple Fire in northwestern Riverside County showed rapid intensification with a thick plume developing during the mid-afternoon hours which spread towards the east-northeast and into San Bernardino County. SAHARAN DUST: A layer of light density Saharan dust was observed over parts of the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean to the North of the Bahamas offshore from the Southeast US coast as well as over parts of the Southern Gulf of Mexico offshore North of the Yucatan Peninsula. WS 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/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg GIS: ftp://satpsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/FIRE/HMS/GIS/ KML: http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/fire.kml (fire) http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/smoke.kml (smoke) ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO: SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov