DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z July 28, 2011
Canada: -Northern Canada: Wildfires located to the southeast of Great Bear Lake and wildfires located to the east of Great Slave Lake, both in Northwest Territories (NT), are primarily responsible for remnant smoke that is covering much of northern Canada this evening. An area of thin density smoke stretches from central NT east across all of southern Nunavut Territory, across the northern areas of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and over Hudson Bay into northwest Quebec. Moderate to very heavy remnant smoke is observed mainly in eastern NT and western Nunavut Territory. -Western Alberta: Elongated areas of thin density remnant smoke oriented north-south are visible in western Alberta this evening. This smoke has most likely originated from several large wildfires burning in eastern Siberia. -Quebec: Wildfires to the east of James Bay in west central Quebec are producing localized areas of smoke that are traveling to the northeast. Smoke density ranges from very light to very dense, depending on this distance from the source. Pacific Northwest: An expansive area of thin density remnant smoke is present over the Pacific northwest including the states of Washington, Oregon, northern California, western Idaho, and western Montana. This smoke can be traced to several uncontained wildfires in Siberia. California: The Lion wildfire in Tulare County, CA is producing locally very heavy smoke this evening. Thick smoke extends east as far as extreme western Nevada, and as far north as east central California. Northern Wyoming/the Dakotas/west central Minnesota. The Norton Point fire in Fremont County, WY and one other active wildfire in northeast WY are both producing elongated areas of thin density smoke with embedded areas of moderate and thick smoke that stretch to the northeast. Central US/eastern US: -Smoke is present is eastern Kansas, central Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio from wildfires burning in northeast Oklahoma and central Arkansas. -An area of aerosol with unknown composition or origin is present over the central Mid-Atlantic region in the vicinity of Tennessee and the Carolinas. This area likely contains urban pollution with a small component of smoke. 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