DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z July 24, 2011
Eastern Northwest Territories: Several wildfires to the east of the Great Slave Lake are continuing to emit moderately dense to dense smoke which moved initially to the north and eventually to the northeast and east. The smoke became less dense as it spread into central Nunavut and as far as the northern portion of Hudson Bay just prior to sunset. Ontario: A large wildfire continues to burn in western Ontario and is producing an area of thin to moderately dense smoke that was moving to the southwest early in the day. Cloudiness moving across the region interfered with additional determination of the density and extent of the smoke. A few other fires were detected in satellite imagery over western Ontario through brief breaks in the clouds, but smoke information was not possible during the afternoon given the amount of cloud cover in the area. Central US to Mid-Atlantic States: A large area of aerosol is visible in the central US and mid Atlantic regions including much of the Ohio river valley, New England states, Virginia, and the Carolinas. The aerosol is believed to be primarily composed of haze and urban pollution, though fires in the eastern Carolinas and southeastern Georgia could be partially contributing to some of the aerosol particularly along and off the Southeast and Middle Atlantic coastal areas. The aerosol extends eastward well offshore into the western Atlantic. North Central US: Patches of aerosol of unknown origin and composition were visible in between cloudy areas from Nebraska and northern Iowa northward to North Dakota and Minnesota near the Canadian border. Alaska: A few fires were analyzed in satellite imagery during the day over central Alaska but widespread cloudiness interfered with additional fire and smoke detection. A couple of fires were analyzed just south of Fairbanks with smoke briefly visible through breaks in the clouds extending northward over at least a portion of Fairbanks. JS/Ramirez 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