DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0400Z August 20, 2012
Western US: This morning, an area of moderate-to-thick density smoke was visible across the northwestern US states including Washington/Oregon/Idaho/Wyoming where multiple wildfires continued to burn. Throughout the day, a particularly dense area of smoke pushed northward over Washington State, crossing the US/Canadian border. Light remnant smoke from these wildfires, as well as some remnant smoke from wildfires burning in northern British Columbia/northern Alberta, has spread over much of the US by sliding southward along the back edge of the large-amplitude upper level trough. Canada: An area of moderately dense smoke was present spreading northeastward from a large cluster of wildfires burning across northern British Columbia/northern Alberta this morning. Remnant light smoke from these fires has spread as far east/north as Ontario/Nunavut and has also spread southward into the upper Mississippi Valley. This afternoon and evening, fires in the region continued to emit massive amounts of smoke. 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