DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0400Z July 12, 2007
Updated to include additional smoke detection over British Columbia/Alberta Provinces as well as northern Mexico and southeastern Texas. Montana: The Fool Creek fire is producing moderately dense smoke that is moving due east (though an initial burst of smoke started moving SE making a and L shape) covering most of Teton county as well as the northern Cascade county including Great Falls A new fire south of Fool Creek along the Flathead, Powell, and Lewis and Clark counties is producing thin to moderate smoke that is moving due east along the Teton and Lewis and Clark county line as far as the Cascade county line. Wyoming: A new fire at the upper reaches of the Green River in northern Sublette county around the intersection of the Wind River and Gros Ventre Ranges is producing very dense smoke that is becoming convective in nature due to the incredible heat being generated from the fire. The smoke is moving SE over the Wind Rivers as far Muddy Gap in NW Carbon county. Idaho: An unnamed but prolonged fire in the Salmon River Valley near the fork of the Chamberlain River continues to produce very dense smoke that that typically remains in the valley but there is some drift between SSW to ENE directions (no more than 20km from the source). The smoke covers SE Idaho county and NW Lemhi county. The Jim Sage fire along the Utah boarder is producing moderate to dense smoke though it is difficult to see through over running clouds. It appears to be moving due east along the boarder about 50km as far as the WY state line. Oregon: The dense smoke from the Egley Complex is being obscured by a band of high clouds, though it was seen earlier extending mainly NW but being sheared toward the SW and N. NW US: Smoke from today and prior day's burning across NV/CA/OR/ID has produced a thin to moderately dense area of smoke that extends across a large portion of the NW US. The smoke has been drifting north ahead of a shear axis from a old upper level cyclone offshore of OR that extends along the CA/OR/NV/ID/UT state line (or 42N) into SW Wyoming. Because of the shear axis and weak vortex rollup areas...convection and general cloudiness exists in the area of smoke, though the smoke is evident in the breaks across ALL of OR and ID S of 45N, with a small portion of SW WY covered (SW of the dense smoke plume described in the WY section). California: The Zaca fire in SW CA has recently become very active again with dense smoke beginning to move NW over the coastal range with a bit beginning to turn NE into the Valley. Low level ground smoke is drifting out in all directions (except for south) including eastward along the Sierra Madre Range into ext. SW Kern county. Alaska: Most of the fires areas along and north of the Yukon River have been producing smoke over the past few days, but thunderstorms and other broken high clouds are obscuring most of the fires themselves. However, a small patch of moderately dense smoke most likely from the Canadian fires around the eastern side of the Great Slave Lake and SE of Great Bear Lake, can be seen moving west along the coastline around the MacKenzie River Delta, MacKenzie Bay and up to Liverpool Bay. A patch of thin smoke most likely from Siberian fires appears to be moving E around St. Lawerence island and S of the eastern tip of Russia. Northwest Territories: A few large fires around Taltson River SE of Great Slave Lake are producing moderately dense smoke that is moving north a bit then turning eastward and cover an area between 62-63N and 106.5-108W. Manitoba: A fire along Rat Lake in central Manitoba is producing very dense smoke that is moving due south and extends to around Wabowden and Cross Lake just N of Lake Winnipeg. British Columbia/Alberta: Patches of mainly thin smoke became visible with the favorable lower sun angle just before sunset moving east across western and central British Columbia as well as just east of the Rockies in southern Alberta Province. This smoke is believed to be primarily leftover from the western US fires which was transported northward off the Pacific Northwest coast then northeastward and eventually eastward around the top of the upper level ridge and into southwestern Canada. Southern Texas/Northern Mexico: An area of thin smoke elongated from north to south was visible over the western Gulf of Mexico moving northwestward and inland across northern Mexico as well as far southern Texas. This smoke was produced mainly by fires burning for quite some time in the Mexican states of Tabasco and Campeche and was transported to the northwest across the Gulf of Mexico. Gallina/JS