Thursday, June 16, 2011

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1715Z June 16, 2011

Southwest US/Texas/northern Mexico:
Several large wildfires (e.g. Wallow, Horseshoe 2) continue to emit
moderately dense to dense smoke that extends across central New Mexico
and into western Texas, western Oklahoma, southwestern Kansas and
southeastern Colorado.  This large area of remnant smoke is generally
moving to the east.   The wildfires in northern Mexico continued to burn
during the overnight hours and emitted smoke which moved in the direct
of the United States.

Montana:
A thin ribbon of aerosol, which is believed to be remnant smoke from
the Alberta wildfires, moved eastward across portions of north-central
Montana this morning.  It is believed the smoke circulated around an area
of low pressure which is parked over central Alberta and this circulation
allowed it to enter the United States.   The remnant smoke was seen along
a frontal boundary this morning over Hill, Chouteau, and Cascade Counties,
all in Montana.  This area encompasses the city of Great Falls as well.
Cloud cover made additional smoke detection in this area difficult.

Southeast US/Florida/Georgia:
A broad area of moderately dense smoke continues to be present over the
northeast Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean. The origins of
this smoke include the Honey Prairie wildfire in the Okefenokee swamp
and several other fires in Florida and Georgia. The Sweat Farm Again
wildfire in Ware County, Georgia is contributing heavy smoke this morning.
At the time of this report, smoke from these fires began to shift and
move in the direct of the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

Myrga



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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.