DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z September 17, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/US West Coast/far NW Pacific/north-central CONUS/North Atlantic/Greenland/Iceland… Persistent and ongoing wildfire activity across western Canada is continuing to produce copious amounts of thick smoke that extends from British Columbia eastward across northern Alberta and Saskatchewan into eastern Northwest Territory and Nunavut, where the smoke has become incorporated and comprises of a decent portion of the associated cloud field of a cyclone. From central Saskatchewan, some moderate density smoke extends south-southeastward across the north-central CONUS, reaching far northwestern Missouri and far northeastern Kansas. Further east, a stripe of moderate to thick smoke incorporated into a jet extends from northwestern Ontario (exact start point uncertain due to cloud cover) east-northeastward across southern Hudson Bay, northern Quebec, the Davis Strait, and into the north Atlantic, where the smoke bifurcates with the northern portion of the split encroaching upon Iceland. Pyrocumulonimbus production was observed from a fire complex in northern Alberta. Northern California/Pacific Northwest/Southern British Columbia… Wildfire activity from northern California into British Columbia was observed today producing smoke that was generally moving north-northeastward. The most intense activity was scattered throughout southern British Columbia, where a couple instances of Pyrocumulonimbus production were noted. Outside southern BC, the most intense smoke production was located on the Olympic Peninsula with smoke blanketing far northwestern California and southwestern Oregon also quite thick. Mississippi Valley… Scattered to widespread agricultural burning was observed across the Mississippi Valley this afternoon, with most smoke being light and moving southward. 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 map: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg Smoke data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Smoke_Polygons Fire data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Fire_Points ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO: SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov