DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z May 30, 2011
Western Canada/Alaska/Pacific Northwest: A large area of light, remnant smoke can be seen from central/northern Saskatchewan westward through Alberta/central British Columbia northward into the Northwest Territories/Yukon and northern/eastern Alaska. A smaller band of light smoke can be seen stretching to the south and east through the Pacific Northwest and moving through Nevada. Most of this smoke is coming from the wildfires that continue to burn in northern Alberta where heavy, dense smoke can be seen through northern and central Alberta into Saskatchewan. Further to the north through Alaska and northwest Canada, wildfires that are burning through Alaska and western Yukon are contributing to the remnant smoke as well as a more moderately dense area in southeast Alaska. There is also a band of moderate smoke moving southward from the Arctic through northern Alaska and Yukon which could be from the Alberta fires or could be smoke and/or other aerosols coming from near the Kamchatka Peninsula. Central US/Northern Mexico/Western Gulf of Mexico: A large area of light smoke can be seen in this morning's imagery from northern Mexico through Texas and into the central Plains stretching as far east as Illinois. This is from the continued fires through Mexico and Central America as well as more recent fires through the southwest. There is also a possibility that blowing dust from yesterday evening could be mixing in with smoke as well today as surface winds continue to be strong out of the south/southwest. East Coast: A patch of thin smoke could be seen off the Mid-Atlantic and New England coast today as remnant smoke that is coming up through the Central Plains from Mexico is getting rotate counter-clockwise around the High pressure over the eastern US. Smoke could also be mixed with haze over this region as well. Belge THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS SMOKE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES AND SMOKE WHICH HAS BECOME DETACHED FROM THE FIRES AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE..TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ARE ALSO DESCRIBED. USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VIEW A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF THESE AND OTHER PLUMES WHICH ARE LESS EXTENSIVE AND STILL ATTACHED TO THE SOURCE FIRE 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 ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov