DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0115Z June 16, 2006.
United States: Florida: A fire near Alexander Springs in N Lake county produced a pocket of moderately dense smoke that as of the last visible image ~0000Z extended E from the sea breeze convergence line along the Lake/Volusia county line and out more than 110km to the due East of the town of Ariel in Volusia county. Central Mississippi River Basin (includes SE MO, E AR, ext. W TN/KY): A tremendous amount of agricultural fires is producing a very large area of moderate smoke concentrated over the low elevations of the Mississippi River Basin. The smoke has been drifting NW. This has lead to the smoke covering most portions of SE MO and extreme SW IL from Sparta IL, to Poplar Bluff, MO to the KY/MO/IL line back to Sparta. A second area of high density of puffs but moderate coverage of area is located across E AR (north of the 35N but south of a Walnut Ridge to Jonesboro, AR line). Texas: A fire near Sonora in Sutton county is producing moderately dense smoke that is moving quickly N along the western edge of a fair weather cumulus field and extends N about 115km to the Irion/Sterling county line. New Mexico/Arizona: Very strong uniform wind flow across E AZ and W/SW NM has lead the fires to produce dense to convectively dense smoke that is moving NE very rapidly in narrow plumes. Currently the Brushy fire in AZ and the Martinez, Cement, Wilson and Skates fires in NM all have narrow (10km) wide plumes that are moving NE into a cloudy region where then ends of the smoke plumes can no longer be discerned across W and Central NM. Alaska: Two fires just south of the Phillip Smith Mtns and Davidson Mtns. of the Brooks range near and east of Arctic Village are producing moderately dense smoke that extends due W along the spine of the range, but is actually moving to the north as a wind shift is turning it. It mixes with cirrus obscuring the western edges of the plumes. Canada: Quebec: A large fire E of Eastmain is producing a narrow but concentrated moderate to dense plume of smoke that extends SE more than 177km into C. Quebec. A fire S or SSE of Sakami (S of Res. de La Grande) is producing a narrow but concentrated moderately dense plume of smoke that extends ESE more than 127km. Ontario: A fire W of Attawapiskat along the river of the same name has produced a thin to moderately dense plume of smoke that has extended E over to Akimiski Island in the Central James Bay. Saskatchewan: Pyrocumulonimbus are developing over the fire about 100-125km South of Lake Athabasca, this is in response to a rapid intensification of the fire in the last hour. Otherwise a thinner plume of smoke (with moderate density) from earlier burning of this and two fires along the S shore of Lake Athabasca have being circling over Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan under the influence of a high pressure area that has been getting the squeeze (W to E) between a strong Low over S Alberta and a strong W/NW arctic jet. Gallina