DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1730 August 18, 2010
Northwest to South Central Canada: A plume of thin remnant smoke was seen stretched from western Victoria Island in northwest Nunavut southward through the Northwest Territories and southeast across Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and western Ontario. Areas of moderate density smoke was also present over north Saskatchewan and central Manitoba. Much of this smoke likely originated from the fires in northern Saskatchewan though the smoke further to the north could have come from either fires in Alaska or possibly had rotated around the upper low over Hudson Bay, originating from the British Columbia wildfires. Southwest Canada/North Central to Northwestern US: Smoke continues to pour eastward from the fires burning in south central British Columbia with the most dense area located near the fires and moving slowly to the east this morning. Thin and moderately dense smoke was present across B.C., southern and western Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, northeast WA and extreme northern ID, north MT, north ND, and into northwest MN. Another small area of thin smoke coming from the fires in north BC could be seen through clouds in the northwest part of the province. South Dakota/Nebraska: A small piece of thin smoke that had separated from the main area of remnant smoke moving southeast from Canada was seen over South Dakota and Nebraska. The smoke likely originated in British Columbia and was moving quickly eastward. Great Lakes region/southeast Canada: An area of mostly thin remnant smoke that probably came from the British Columbia fires several days ago was present from southern Lake Michigan to southwestern Quebec. Texas/Oklahoma/Arkansas/Louisiana: A small area of what is likely a mix of aerosols was seen over northeast TX, southeast OK, southwest AR, and extreme northwest LA. It is believed that smoke from yesterdays fires in the region along with other particulates including ozone may be responsible for the hazy conditions there today. 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