DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0400Z June 18, 2009
Southern Plains to Tennessee Valley: Thin to moderately dense remnant smoke arranged in southwest to northeast oriented bands was present this evening from southwest Mississippi/Louisiana to Oklahoma/Arkansas. Additional thin smoke extended eastward across Missouri/Arkansas to Kentucky and Tennessee where it was pulled into a large cluster of thunderstorms. Southern Canada/Northern Plains: The large area of remnant smoke over southern Canada continued to spread out to the east today from southern Saskatchewan eastward to central Quebec and southward to North Dakota and eastern Montana. This smoke was mostly thin in appearance except over north central Ontario where moderately dense smoke was present. Multiple large fires that started this afternoon in Ontario were contributing dense smoke to the large remnant smoke plume already draped across southern Canada. West Canada: A plume of moderately dense to very dense smoke and possibly other particulates was seen along the Alberta/Saskatchewan border wrapping around an upper low in southern Saskatchewan. This smoke was rotating slowly to the east with the movement of the upper low. Northeast US/East Canada: Thin remnant smoke off the coast of New England had moved farther out to sea but was still seen stretching across Nova Scotia and southeast Newfoundland to the Labrador Sea. Alaska: Thin to moderately dense remnant smoke was observed across southwest Alaska and over the Aleutians. Great Lakes Region: Thin to moderately dense smoke had wrapped around from southern Canada and was returning westward and southward across Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Sheffler More information on additional areas of smoke associated with these fires and others can be found at the locations listed below. THE FORMAT OF THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS BEING MODIFIED. IT WILL NO LONGER DESCRIBE THE VARIOUS PLUMES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES. THESE PLUMES ARE DEPICTED IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE: JPEG: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/hms.html GIS: http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm KML: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/kml.html THIS TEXT PRODUCT WILL CONTINUE TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF SMOKE WHICH HAVE BECOME DETACHED FROM AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE, TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. IT WILL ALSO STILL INCLUDE DESCRIPTIONS OF BLOWING DUST. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THESE CHANGES OR THE SMOKE TEXT PRODUCT IN GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov