DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0315Z July 15, 2010
Western to Eastern Canada/Northern US: Dense smoke continued to stream from large fires burning primarily in northern Saskatchewan Province of west central Canada. The dense smoke was initially moving westward but was then being pulled in different directions by weather systems. A portion of the dense smoke spread southward and southeastward into eastern Montana and far western North Dakota and eventually eastward and northeastward over northern North Dakota into south central Canada. Another part of the dense smoke moved northward from the fires and eventually eastward across the Northwest Territories to northern Hudson Bay. Thinner surrounding smoke covered a large portion of western and central Canada and had also spread as far east as southeastern Canada. Central and Eastern US: A large portion of the central and eastern US was being affected by patches of aerosol of unknown origin and composition. Gulf of Mexico: A batch of aerosol was visible over the western Gulf of Mexico extending inland over coastal southeastern Texas and southward over the Bay of Campeche. Some of this aerosol may be dust/sand transported all the way across the Atlantic from the Sahara in northern Africa. Northwestern US: Light to locally moderately dense smoke was observed across a good portion of central and eastern Washington into northern Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana. The source of this smoke was mainly believed to be from fires in central Washington. JS 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