DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0430Z August 06, 2012
Idaho/Montana/Wyoming/Plains States: An large area of light to moderately dense smoke was visible this evening stretching from central Idaho eastward over Montana and into the central Plains. A ribbon-like feature was observed at the smoke's leading edge. The majority of this smoke likely originated from the wildfires in Idaho and southern Montana, most notably from the large Halstead fire burning in central Idaho. Northern California: Moderately dense to very dense smoke can be seen coming from the very large Chips wildfire in northern California and moving towards the northwest and reaching the Oregon border. A particularly dense-smoke area of remnant smoke was observed in southwest Oregon. Northwest Territories/Alberta/Manitoba/Saskatchewan/: Two elongates areas of remnant smoke can be seen stretching from the northern portion of the Northwest Territories near the Yukon border southeastward into Alberta and Saskatchewan. Smoke moved further south throughout the day, reaching the Canadian/US border this evening. There are likely two sources for these areas of smoke. First, it is likely remnant, high altitude smoke that has been transported from Siberia where wildfires continue to burn. Also, there are numerous fires burning through northern British Columbia and southern Northwest Territories which is leading to additional smoke be transported to the southwest into Alberta and Saskatchewan. LP/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