DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z October 2, 2011
Northern and Central US: Visible imagery indicated patches of leftover thin to moderately dense smoke extending from eastern Montana and western North Dakota southward to western Kansas. The smoke in the southern part of this area was believed to be due to a large fire which erupted yesterday in western South Dakota. This fire was not detected in satellite imagery during the day. The smoke in the northern portion of this area was likely from ongoing fires to the west over parts of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Western and Northwestern US: More fires were analyzed during the day across the area from central California to north central Idaho, western Montana, and northwestern Wyoming. Several significant smoke plumes were evident with the fires over east central California, west central Nevada, and north central Nevada. The fires in north central Nevada were particularly notable and were believed to be ignited by lightning last evening. Thin smoke was present from west central Nevada to southern Idaho with moderately dense to locally dense smoke closer to the active fires. Cloudiness over Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, and northern Wyoming interfered with fire and smoke detection. Only a few smoke plumes were visible in between breaks in the clouds in this region. Middle to Lower Mississippi Valley: Mainly agricultural fires were numerous again today over far southeastern Missouri, eastern Arkansas, and northwestern Mississippi. A number of smoke plumes emanated from these fires and moved off to the south during the afternoon and early evening. Northern Plains/South Central Canada: Many seasonal fires were analyzed again across North Dakota, northwestern Minnesota, southeastern Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba. Some smoke was analyzed, but cloudiness interfered with smoke detection in satellite imagery. JS 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