DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z September 25, 2011
Western US: Remnant thin to moderately dense smoke seen earlier this morning over western Wyoming and extreme northwest Colorado was still lingering in this region during the afternoon and early evening. This particular patch of leftover smoke was believed to be mainly from several fires burning in Wyoming yesterday. Remnant smoke from fires in Oregon and northern California was seen lifting north/northeast across portions of Oregon and Washington as well into southern British Columbia and southern Alberta. During the afternoon, a number of significant smoke plumes developed again, especially over northwestern Wyoming, northern and eastern Idaho, and western Montana. Several of the smoke plumes in this region were very dense. The smoke was moving primarily to the north and northeast. Cloudiness moved over California, Oregon, and Washington during the afternoon which interfered with additional information concerning any smoke present there. Southern and Southeastern US/Gulf of Mexico: An aerosol of unknown origin and composition was visible extending from southern Texas and northern Mexico eastward over the northern Gulf of Mexico and the southern portions of the Gulf coast states. The aerosol could not be seen farther to the east and northeast due to cloudiness. South Central Canada: Relatively small patches of thin remnant smoke were present moving to the east over central Manitoba and central Hudson Bay. This smoke is likely from fires yesterday in southeast Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. Many additional smoke plumes were visible again this afternoon and early evening over the same general region of southeastern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. These fires are believed to be primarily seasonal agricultural burns. Earlier this morning... North Central Canada: Aerosol could again be seen this morning moving across northern Hudson Bay. This is the same aerosol that has been seen moving across Northwest Canada the past two days. A small portion of the aerosol could also be remnant smoke from recent fires in the Northwest Territories around Great Slave Lake and in northern Alberta. British Columbia Coast/Northwest Canada: A plume of aerosol was again present today in GOES-W imagery off the coast of British Columbia extending northeast across the northern part of the province to the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. There is a possibility that this aerosol is SO2 from volcanoes in the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. 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