DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z July 25, 2012
UPDATE: Eastern US: An area of light smoke can be seen along the eastern seaboard stretching from southern South Carolina to Pennsylvania. This is likely remnant smoke from fires in the central US and Canada. Central US: A large area of light-density smoke is situated over the central US. Within this area, moderately dense to locally thick smoke is found over South Dakota. This is likely remnant smoke that is primarily from the fires along the Nebraska/South Dakota border. Smoke is stretching eastward into Iowa and Illinois. Northern California/Oregon/Idaho: A mass of thin-density smoke stretching eastward from the Pacific Ocean over northern California, Oregon, and Idaho likely originated from fires burning in Siberia. Canada: A large area of light-density smoke covers the majority of central and western Canada originating from large wildfires that continue to burn in the region. While clouds covered a large portion of the analyzed region, an area of thicker density smoke was observed over Northern Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and British Columbia. The leading edge of the smoke is pushing southeastward into the northern Great Lakes. Blowing Dust/Sand: Florida/Gulf of Mexico: Blowing dust/sand has stretched from the Saharan Desert west into the eastern Gulf of Mexico over southern Florida. Southern California: Localized blowing dust/sand was visible southwest of the Salton Sea moving to the east beginning around 2345Z and continuing through sunset. -Salemi/LP 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