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