DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z August 30, 2005
Central Canada/North Central US: Detatched smoke originating from the fires burning across Alaska was visible this evening stretching southwestward from Hudson Bay across Ontario and Manitoba Provinces to near the border of northwestern Minnesota. The smoke has been entrained into the large cyclonic vortex located just south of Hudson Bay. Alaska: Active fires were still burning over eastern Alaska with some smoke visible mainly across Yukon-Koyukuk County. However, extensive cloudiness is preventing the detection of additional areas of smoke which are likely still present. Western US: A very large area of moderately dense smoke and blowing dust was seen this evening stretching from west central Nevada northeastward to the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and Saskachewan. Large fires producing significant smoke plumes fanned by gusty southwesterly winds and low dewpoints were observed especially across central and northern Nevada, southern and central Idaho, and western Montana. Mixing with this area of smoke were clouds of blowing dust originating from dry lake beds/open vegetation free areas of west central and northwestern Nevada and northeastern California. Especially prominent were dust clouds coming from Churchill, Pershing, and Humboldt Counties of Nevada and Lassen County of California. Other plumes of blowing dust could be seen moving southeastward across south central and southwestern Idaho. Yet another area of blowing dust originating from Laguna Salada in far northwestern Baja was spreading northeastward all the way into south central Arizona, just southwest of the Phoenix vicinity. Finally, a fire burning across central San Bernardino county of southern California was producing a smoke plume which has spread as far east as Las Vegas, NV. JS