DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z August 17, 2011
Ontario/Great Lakes Region: A plume of thin smoke was situated ahead of a storm system that was moving across southern Canada. This plume stretched from just west of James Bay southeast across Ontario to Lake Huron where the plume became more patchy. Additional aerosol believed to be patches of thin smoke was seen lifting northward over Lake Michigan, the U.P. of Michigan, and eastern Lake Superior. Most of this smoke is thought to have come from the fires in western Ontario that were producing smoke yesterday. Northern Plains/Midwest: An aerosol extends from northeast Wyoming/southeast Montana eastward across South Dakota and then northeast across Minnesota this evening wrapping into the upper low as it reaches southwest Ontario. This aerosol is thought to be blowing dust that was transported by strong winds across eastern Montana/northeast Wyoming today. There is also a possibility though that the aerosol is made up of a mixture of dust and smoke from the numerous fires in ID/WY/MT/OR/WA. Mid Atlantic coast: The Lateral West fire in the Great Dismal Swamp along the VA/NC border continued to smoke this evening producing moderately dense to dense smoke that extended eastward across the Atlantic. Northwest Atlantic: Unknown aerosol extends northeast from the Mid-Atlantic along a frontal boundary to the coast of Nova Scotia. An area of the aerosol that appeared more dense and concentrated was thought to be remnant smoke from the Lateral West fire mentioned above. Intermountain West/Pacific Northwest: An area of expanding smoke covered much of the Great Basin this evening from northern Nevada/northwest Utah/southern Idaho northeast to southwest Montana/west and southern Wyoming. Numerous fires across Idaho are the main smoke contributors although there are also a few fires in Wyoming also producing smoke. In southwest Idaho, the smoke was considered moderately dense to dense. Other unknown aerosol covered portions of Oregon/Washington/northern Idaho/Montana although there is good chance that smoke from the numerous fires has mixed with this other aerosol. Louisiana Coast: The area of unknown aerosol seen over the western Gulf of Mexico this morning is now thought to be mostly remnant smoke from the recent increase in agricultural fires over the southern Mississippi River Valley. A large number of these fires were smoke producing this evening and Air Quality Forecast Guidance showed above surface smoke off and along the Louisiana coast this evening. Sheffler 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