Thursday, May 17, 2012

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0245Z May 18, 2012

Northwestern US/Western Canada:
High-level remnant smoke from large Siberian fires continues to make its
way into the northwestern US and western Canada this afternoon. This
thin-density smoke can be seen over northwest California extending
northeastward into Alberta/Saskatchewan and the southern Northwest
Territories. The furthest eastern extent of the smoke is unclear as
cloud cover is inhibiting smoke detection through the Canadian provinces.

Mexico/Southwestern US/Central US:
An expansive area of thin-density smoke is visible over
Sinaloa/Durango/Sonora/Chihuahua states in Mexico and extends mainly
northward through New Mexico into the central US. This area of smoke is
a combination of smoke from the large wildfires still burning in Arizona
and western New Mexico as well as the multiple fires in Mexico. A surface
analysis from earlier today indicated decent southerly flow ahead of
a surface low over Colorado which likely helped pull some of the smoke
northward into South Dakota/Minnesota.

Arizona/New Mexico:
Three large wildfires continue to burn across central Arizona
today. The thinner-density smoke from these wildfires is traveling to
the east-northeast into southwest Colorado. Thick-density smoke was also
visible mainly from the Gladiator fire and extended to the east-northeast.

Two additional wildfires remain active in western New Mexico this
afternoon. The thin-to-medium density smoke from these fires extended
into portions of central New Mexico.

Southeastern US/Eastern US coast:
An area of thin-density smoke could be seen this morning and early this
afternoon along the eastern US coast. The origin of this smoke is possibly
due to the Siberian fires though other contributions are possible. Smoke
from these fires has likely been transported across the Canadian provinces
over the past several days and became embedded along and behind a cold
frontal system that moved off the east coast this morning.

An additional area of thin-density smoke is visible along the Gulf
coast/eastern Texas. This smoke is likely an extension of the smoke that
was visible along the east coast and has now wrapped back around to the
north and into western Texas.

Blowing Dust:
An area of blowing dust can been seen across Sonora, Mexico this
evening. The dust is blowing mainly to the northeast across northwestern
Mexico into south central Arizona. Some blowing dust is also visible
moving to the southeast across the interior portion of central
California. Another area of blowing dust is likely across northern
Nevada and southern Idaho but cannot be seen due to the clouds limiting
visibility in the region. A couple of surface observations do indicate
blowing dust in these regions.

Vogt


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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.