DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0255Z July 21, 2012
Alaska: Remnant smoke, most likely from Siberia, could be seen intermixed with the clouds that covered most of the northern Pacific Ocean/southern Alaska this afternoon. Central Plains: An area of thin-density remnant smoke from the Myrtle fire in South Dakota could be seen across the central plains extending northeastward across the western Great Lakes this evening. Convection that formed this afternoon hindered further detection of smoke. Northwest Territories/Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba/Ontario: Immense amounts of remnant thin-to-medium density smoke continue to inundate most of the central Canadian provinces today. Thin-density smoke was visible across the Northwest Territories/northern Alberta/northern Saskatchewan/Manitoba/Ontario, upstream of a low pressure system that continues to gradually shift eastward over Hudson Bay. A broad band of medium-density smoke was present in northeast Alberta/northern Saskatchewan/western Manitoba traveling southeastward. This entire area of smoke is likely remnant smoke from the numerous wildfires that continue to burn/emit smoke across the southern Canada. An area of thick-density smoke was seen moving eastward across Ontario from a group of wildfires in the western portion of the province this evening. A few of these wildfires were emitting copious amounts of heavy smoke this afternoon and continued to do so through at least sunset. Southeast US/Atlantic Ocean: An area of Saharan dust could be seen this evening over the Atlantic Ocean moving towards Florida. -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