DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1930Z August 04, 2009
Northwestern to Western Canada/Alaska: An expansive area of remnant smoke from wildfires in Alaska and the Yukon Territory covered most of northwest Canada including western Nunavut, northwestern British Columbia, and eastern and northern Alaska. The smoke stretched well to the north of Canada/Alaska across the Beaufort Sea as it has been pulled northward by an upper low. Moderately dense to dense smoke was observed over the Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory, extreme northwest British Columbia, and eastern Alaska. Northern US/Southern Canada/Mid-Atlantic to Northeast US: A very large area of smoke stretched across the northern US and across southern Canada this morning. Smoke from fires in Alaska, the Yukon Territory, and British Columbia that had traveled south and eastward over the past few days was seen as far east as the Great Lakes and southwest Quebec in a continuous plume from Washington/southern British Columbia. Some of this smoke was moderately dense to dense over south central Canada and the northern Plains. A smaller plume of remnant smoke from the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast was separated from the main area of smoke by a cold front across the Great Lakes region, but was also likely from the fires in western Canada and Alaska. North Central Canada: A plume of thin to moderately dense smoke was positioned across the northwestern edge of Hudson's Bay also covering northern Manitoba, part of the Northwest Territories, and southeast Nunavut. This smoke likely originated from the fires in the Yukon Territory and Alaska several days ago. Central Plains: Thin to moderately dense smoke was seen moving southeastward across Kansas and Oklahoma this morning. It is believed this smoke came from yesterday's fires in Utah and Colorado. Washington/Oregon/Idaho: Moderately dense to dense smoke was observed in GOES-11 satellite imagery along the WA/OR border and north to south over the OR Cascades. Thin smoke stretched eastward across northern OR into central ID with embedded moderately dense smoke. While some of this smoke is leftover from yesterday's fires in Oregon, additional remnant smoke has been added by active fires in northeast California. -Sheffler More information on the areas of smoke described above as well as 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.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/land/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