DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z June 8, 2010
Most Recent: Alaska/Canada/Great Lakes: A large and elongated area of light smoke remains over portions of northern Alaska through the Northwest Territories stretching into the western and central Great Lakes region. There are areas of embedded moderate smoke which are associated with fires along eastern Alaska/western Canadian border and near Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes where multiple fires were detected. Eastern Canada/New England: Two areas of detected smoke were observed in this evenings imagery; one thin and elongated plume located between Montreal and Quebec, and the other along the coast of New England. It is possible that both may have originated from the same fires burning across the Northwest Territories and Alaska. Gulf of Mexico: A band of thin smoke and unknown aerosols was still seen stretched across portions of Louisiana, coastal Mississippi/Alabama, and western Florida and now extending across the central portion of the peninsula over to the Atlantic Ocean. which is also noted to be on the southern side of a stalled out frontal boundary. The source of the smoke is believed to be from several fires analyzed across LA/AR/MS. Along the western Gulf of Mexico thin smoke is seen and is likely as a result of a large number of agricultural fires burning over Mexico and Central America. Earlier Today: Alaska/Canada/Great Lakes: A large and elongated area of light smoke extends from northern Alaska and the central Northwest Territories southeast into the northern Plains and northern Great Lakes region. A moderate area of smoke exists near the area of wildfires burning near the central Canada and Alaska border. Another more elongated area of moderate smoke can be seen in a band near Great Bear Lake and to points southeast of that. Looking towards central/eastern Canada, a few additional areas of moderate smoke can be seen just east of Reindeer Lake in northwest Manitoba and near the Manitoba/Ontario border. The source for the large smoke plume continues to be persistent fire activity over northern Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska. Western Gulf of Mexico/Gulf Coast: An area of mostly thin smoke covered the extreme western Gulf of Mexico and northeast Mexico this morning. The source for this smoke is believed to be the large number of agricultural fires that continue over Mexico and Central America. Further to north and east, a band of thin smoke and some aerosols can be observed along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana into the Florida peninsula. This has set up right along the frontal zone in that region. It is possible that some of this smoke and/or aerosols may be remnant smoke from the fire activity over Mexico/Central America over the past several days. Warren 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