Thursday, October 23, 2008

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z OCTOBER 24, 2008

Ontario:
A few fires in E Ontario (north of Sudbury and east of Sault Ste. Marie)
produced 5-10km wide lines of thin smoke that moved due north about
50-100km.
In SW Ontario, NE of Lac Saul...three large fires produced similar thin
smoke that moved NNE about 75-100km.  Both were about 10-20km wide...being
a fire that was larger E to W.

S Texas:
A fire in S La Salle county near the Webb county line produced a large
area of thin to moderate smoke that moved in all directions making a
large circular area covering much of S LaSalle and NE Webb county as
well into McMullen and Duval counties.

Texas Panhandle:
Multiple agricultural fires over E Castro Swisher, and NE Lamb counties
produced very short puffs of thin smoke that rapidly moved ESE as far
east as S Motley and Dickens county. No puff was larger than 5km by 10km.

New Mexico:
A fire in the mountains north of Silver City in Grant county produced a
plume of thin smoke that moved E then SE as it was blocked by the Black
and Mimbers Range. The plume covered the valley.
A small fire near (just SE) Ruidoso, NM along the Otero/Lincoln line
produced a 5km wide plume of thin smoke that traveled NE along US70
about 15-30km.

Arizona:
The Marteen fire in South central Coconino county produced thin to
moderate smoke that moved due south in a 15km wide plume that barely
crossed into Yavapai county.
Two other fires along the Mogollan Rim produced plumes of thin smoke
that moved S or SSW.  One near Long Valley, AZ in SW Coconino county,
the other S of Show Low in
far SW Navajo county.  Neither extended more than 50km or were wider
than 15km wide.
A small fire in Prescott Natl forest (SE of Prescott, AZ) produced thin
smoke that remained near the source and surrounding valleys S and E.

Nevada:
A fire on the western slopes of the Ruby Range in SC Elko county E of
Spring Creek produced thin smoke that moved NE along the slopes of the
range...and nearly extended to around Secret Pass.

Southern California/Baja California:
A very large fire south of San Diego in northern Baja California near
Ensenada is producing dense smoke that has begun to drift South and
East along the coastal range of mountains.  Thin to moderate smoke from
yesterday and early this morning's output can be seen extending well
of shore covering a large area over 350km W from the coast and from
the CA/Mexico line south over 400km to a small (name unknown) island.
The smoke offshore has been moving in nearly all directions today
dependent on the level of the smoke...though the entire area is slight
moving S to SSE over the day.

A new fire near Upland or San Antonio Heights on the southern flanks
of the San Gabriels is producing thin smoke that is moving due south
covering the small neck of San Bernardino county between LA, Orange and
Riverside counties near Chino.
Moderate smoke from the Chalk fire in Monterey county has been banked
eastward along the flanking mnts but also has been drifting SW out to
sea mixing with thin to moderate smoke from late last night/early this
morning.  A mix of thin smoke can be see along the coast as far south
as the NW Santa Barbera county line.
The long term fire in Kings Canyon Natl Park continues to produce thin
to moderate smoke that has been moving due W and due E covering a large
portion of the Park.

Northern California:
A few agricultural fires in the northern valley in Colusa county produced
puffs of moderate smoke that have been drifting South and thinning out
though can still be seen moving into N Yolo county.
A fire along the the SE Shasta/SW Lassen county line is producing a
plume of moderate to dense smoke that was moving ESE but with a bit
of shear in the low levels is currently fanning from ENE to ESE across
nearly all of S Lassen county to the Nevada line and on the NE side of
the plume extends nearly to US395.

Oregon:
There are too many fires to describe individually: but a large portion
of Central and NE Oregon (North of US20 is covered by thin to moderate
smoke).  Most smoke is moving due east from the fires in plumes that
are on average 10-20 wide and extend 50km. Please see graphic at
www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/hms.html
Only a fire on the SW flanks of the Wallowa Mtns, near Medical Springs
breaks from the pack with thin smoke moving W to S in a fan into the
surrounding low valley near I-84.
A pocket of agricultural fires in E Douglas and N Coos county are
producing puffs of moderate to dense smoke that is moving SE but extends
less than 35-50km.

Washington:
A fire in SW Yakima county, E of Mt. Adams is producing moderate smoke
that has been expanding S and N along the mtns but is also moving due
E over the the western half of the Yakama Reservation to US-97.
A small fire near White Pass in NW Yakima county is producing thin smoke
that is moving E along US-12 to S Kittitas county and I-82.
A large fire in the Southern Kettle River Range in Ferry county near
the Sanpoli River has producing moderate smoke that has been fanning out
from SSW to SSE and extends as far as NW Adams county covering portions
of E Grant and western half of Lincoln county.
A few fires with thin smoke in N Stevens county and C Pend Oreille county
produced 5km wide plumes that extend about 20km to the south.

British Columbia:
The central valley and western slopes of the Rockies are littered with
fires with a good portion of them producing thin smoke that is moving
N and NE into the SW oriented valleys particularly between 51N and 52.5N.

Gallina


 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.