Monday August 13, 2012

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0400Z August 14, 2012

Western US:
An area of moderate-to-thick density smoke was present across northern
California/southeast Oregon/southern Montana/Idaho/Wyoming/ western South
Dakota/ western Nebraska this morning. Throughout the day, dense smoke
traveled to the east, reaching western Iowa. This remnant smoke can be
attributed to the large wildfires in the northwest US that continue to
emit copious amounts of smoke. Lighter remnant smoke from these wildfires
has made its way through the central and southern plains and could be
seen wrapping south and westward around the surface ridge back into the
four corners region.

Canada/Alaska:
A large area of thin-density remnant smoke could be seen across the
Northwest Territories/Nunavut/Saskatchewan/Manitoba/Ontario/Quebec
this morning. In addition, an area of medium-density smoke was visible
in eastern Saskatchewan/Manitoba/southeast portion of the Northwest
Territories/southern Nunavut/Hudson Bay extending as far southward as the
Minnesota/Canadian border. The medium-density smoke was visible moving
eastward over the Hudson Bay this evening. These areas of smoke are likely
a mix of remnant smoke from Canadian and Siberian wildfires. Another
area of thin-density remnant smoke was visible over southern Alaska/
southern Yukon/ southern Northwest Territories moving westward, and
likely originated from similar sources.

-LP/Vogt



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.