DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z July 24, 2012
Southeastern United States: Saharan dust was visible across portions of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina during the day. Central and Southern Plains/Ohio Valley: Moderately dense to locally thick smoke moved to the north and east from fires burning over northern Nebraska and southern South Dakota. A slightly larger area of thinner density smoke surrounded the thicker smoke. In addition, a large mass of thin density smoke was analyzed over the Central Plains which likely is partly from the Nebraska and South Dakota fires as well as other fires burning over Kansas and Oklahoma. It is also possible that the smoke from these fires extends farther to the east across the Ohio Valley and to the south into southern Oklahoma and Texas, although some other pollutants may be contributing to that aerosol as well. Western US/Southwestern Canada: Thin density smoke appears to be moving inland from the Pacific across northern California, Oregon, and Washington, northern Idaho, western Montana, and into southwestern Canada. This smoke is believed to be left over from fires ongoing in Siberia. Canada/Northern and Northeastern US: Numerous large wildfires which are scattered across the region extending from western to south central Canada continue to emit significant smoke. A huge area of thin density smoke stretches from northern British Columbia and the southern Yukon eastward and southeastward across south central Canada to the northern Great Lakes region. The smoke then extends to the east and northeast across southeastern Canada and northern Maine to the Canadian Maritimes. Within this large area of smoke, moderately dense to thick smoke was visible over western and south central Canada. Southeastern Alaska/Western Canada: More thin density smoke likely transported from the Siberian fires could be seen across the Gulf of Alaska extending inland over southeastern Alaska, northwestern British Columbia, and the southern portion of the Yukon. 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