DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z July 29, 2012
Northern Plains/Western Great Lakes: Thin to moderate smoke from yesterday's fires in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming has drifted east and can be seen cyclonically wrapping up across SD and extending east along some confluence zone into S MN, central and southern WI into L. Michigan. Hudson Bay/Quebec/Ontario: Very think smoke is emitting from numerous fires NE of the major Manitoban lakes and across woodland Ontario, but this is embedded within a large area of thin with pockets of moderately dense smoke from the Alberta/NW Territory fires (and possible small contribution from Asian fire) associated with the main westerly jet so the coverage field is expansive E-W, but thins N-S and currently covers northern Ontario across S Hudson Bay and James Bay into extreme N Quebec and eventually into the far northern Labrador Strait. Western and NW Canada: Moderately dense to dense smoke exists from the fires burning across N Alberta and with a significant cyclone in southern Alberta... flow is slowed and smoke is consolidating/backed up across N Alberta... some smoke flows SE across central Saskatchewan towards Lake Winnipeg and Manitoba, but it is difficult to detect before merging with aforementioned smoke area. NW Northwest Territories: A narrow filament of thin smoke can be seen coming from very high latitudes and the Arctic Ocean and moving SE across the NW Territories east of Great Bear Lake. This smoke has Asian origins (with some smoke being seen on the limb of Goes-west over near the eastern tip of Siberia/Russia toward the Bering Strait). Western Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico: Saharan dust is visible this morning stretching over the Bahamas, across central and southern Florida then extending SW into the Gulf of Mexico from Tampa Bay to 25N85W (moving South) then arcing back NW along the W TX and LA coastlines (where it is stationary). Gallina 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