Saturday, August 4, 2012

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1645Z August 04, 2012


Idaho/Wyoming/Northern Plains:
An elongated area of moderately dense remnant smoke can be seem coming
from the large Halstead fire in central Idaho, extending eastward through
Wyoming and into South Dakota and Nebraska. It's possible that this
area of remnant smoke could be extending even further east but due to
considerable cloudiness through the midwest and western/central Great
Lakes region, it could not be seen.

Oklahoma:
An area of mostly moderate remnant smoke was seen this morning moving
towards the northeast through eastern Oklahoma and into southwestern
Missouri and northern Arkansas. This is likely from the numerous fires
burning through central Oklahoma over the last few days. One fire in
particular called the Bluegill fire in Creek County, OK is producing the
majority of this remnant smoke as well as new smoke as it continues to
burn today.

Nunavut/Manitoba:
A few elongated areas of remnant smoke are seen today stretching north to
south through Nunavut and then another area seen moving eastward through
northern Manitoba. The first area of smoke is likely from the fires that
are continuing to burn through northern British Columbia/Alberta and
southern Northwest Territories that has gotten wrapped up in the strong
upper-level low and has been transported north and east. The second area
of smoke is mostly remnant with some new smoke from the handful of fires
burning through central/northern Manitoba.

Southern Northwest Territories:
An area of what appears to be remnant smoke can be seen through portions
of southern Northwest Territories, just south of Great Slave Lake,
moving towards the east. It is difficult to see the full extent of
this smoke due to the clouds in the region, but this is likely due to
the fires burning through southern Northwest Territories and northern
British Columbia/Alberta.

Northeastern US:
An area of unknown aerosol can be seem through portions of the interior
northeast and through coastal New England today. It is possible that
this area could be some very light remnant smoke from the fires out west
mixed in with possible haze and other aerosols.

-Belge



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.