DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z May 21, 2010
Northern US Plains/Northeast US/South Central and Eastern Canada: A plume of thin to moderate density smoke extended from the eastern Dakotas northward into the southern two-thirds of Manitoba and east central Saskatchewan, before turning east and southeastward across Ontario, southwest Quebec, several states in the Northeastern US, and out across the Northwest Atlantic. A significant amount of this smoke likely originated from the numerous ag burns over the past few days over the Northern Plains, southern Saskatchewan, and Manitoba with other contributions from Tuesday's fires in Michigan and from two fires yesterday in central Manitoba just east of Lake Winnipeg. Montana/Southern Alberta/Southern Saskatchewan: An area of aerosol was seen over north Montana, southeast Alberta, and southern Saskatchewan being pulled northeastward by an upper low over Alberta. This aerosol is believed to be dust that was picked up from southwestern Arizona several days ago on May 17 and has travelled far northward over that time. Some thin smoke from the fires in the northern US Plains and south central Canada may also be mixed with the aerosol over Saskatchewan into northwest North Dakota. Southeast US: An area of aerosols was seen along an old frontal boundary stretching east off the South Carolina coast and also just west of Florida. Though the composition and origin of this aerosol is unknown, it is believed that remnant smoke from regional ag fires in the Southeast over the past few days makes up at least a portion of this area of aerosol. Western Gulf of Mexico/Louisiana/Texas/Arkansas: An area of aerosols believed to be remnant smoke was seen in the western Gulf of Mexico and across the eastern half of Texas, northwest Louisiana, and southwest Arkansas. Moderately dense smoke was present in the Bay of Campeche as well. Fires in Mexico and Central America are likely the main contributors to all of this remnant smoke. Alaska: Two patches of residual smoke mostly from the Toklat fire in central Alaska were seen over western Alaska and east of the fire site. Some of the smoke east of the fire was from yesterday and of moderate density. -Sheffler 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