Monday, June 25, 2012

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z June 26, 2012

Currently:

Eastern California/Western Nevada/Southeast Oregon:
Areas of blowing dust/sand can be seen in satellite imagery moving most
east  across sections of northern Nevada and southern Idaho.  Areas of
blowing dust/sand in southeast California and southwest Nevada are moving
toward the NNE into central/northern Nevada.

Rockies/Central US:
The large wildfires burning across Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado
are producing large volumes of heavy smoke that is moving north into the
Northern Plains and into southern Canada.  The residual smoke from these
wildfires continues to move south off the ridge reaching as far south as
Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. Pockets of heavier residual smoke extends
over a large area of the Northern/Central Plains.

Alaska/Yukon/Northwest Territories/Nunavut:
Wildfires across the territories are producing a large area of dense
smoke spreading north and reaching parts of western Nunavut.  The smoke
is difficult to see across most of Alaska and Yukon due to thick weather
clouds across the region.

Earlier Today:

Central US:
Light to moderately dense smoke continues to span the central US.
Smoke extends from north Texas to central Illinois.  Agricultural fires
in central Kansas may be producing isolated areas of dense smoke at the
surface. Most of the smoke aloft is likely from the numerous large fires
in Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Wyoming.

Colorado:
The High Park, Little Sand, and Weber fires produced visible smoke at
sunrise this morning.

Canada:
Remnant smoke from the wildfires in the Northwest Territories moved
northward towards the Arctic Ocean throughout the overnight hours.
Some areas of moderately dense smoke was viewed near the Nunavut/Northwest
Territories border.

J Kibler

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.