DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1745Z August 17, 2012
US: Remnant smoke from the large wildfires that continue to burn out west has now stretched across the entire US today from the west coast into New England/Atlantic Ocean. The smoke is mostly moderately thick-to-thick in density and is fairly zonal in nature but then continues to spread northeastward into Maine just ahead of the cold frontal boundary pushing through the northeast US. The area of thickest smoke resided across Oklahoma/Kansas/Arkansas/Missouri and into the western portions of the Tennessee Valley. Most impressively was the area of moderate smoke visible in GOES EAST imagery this morning along the Mid-Atlantic/New England seaboard, which has traveled across the country in a matter of days. British Columbia: A small area of light-to-moderately dense smoke was visible in northern British Columbia this morning. This smoke can be attributed to the wildfires that continue to burn across the area. -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