DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THRU 0300Z JULY 19, 2005
Alaska/Northwestern Canada: Abundant cloudiness covers a good portion of Alaska today making fire and smoke detection difficult. A widespread batch of intense fires burning across northwestern Canada between Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake is producing significant smoke which has been observed spreading southward during the afternoon and evening. Southeastern Canada: Very large fires scattered across Quebec Province and Newfoundland Province are responsible for an enormous swath of smoke covering southeastern Canada and extending well off the coast of southeastern Canada and over the Atlantic Ocean. The majority of the smoke plumes were moving off to the northeast early this evening. Southwestern US: Large wildfires burning across several western states are producing a significant area of smoke covering a good portion of the area from southern Idaho to southeastern California and southern Arizona. Visible imagery showed the fires over northern Nevada as well as ones over northern and central Arizona were emitting very thick smoke plumes. Some of these fires appeared to be quite convective in nature with enhanced bursts of smoke emanating from them early this evening. In addition to the smoke, visible imagery also indicated at least one area of possible blowing dust across northern Utah moving eastward into southern Wyoming.