Sunday, August 26, 2012

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z August 27, 2012

Northwest US/Northern and Central Plains/Ontario/Quebec:
An extensive area of smoke stretched across much of the Northwest and
Central US this morning as smoke from numerous large western US wildfires
spread eastward and southward. Remnant smoke stretched southward to the
Oklahoma/Texas Panhandles and northeast across the Upper Midwest/Ontario
to southern Hudson Bay. Though partially cloudy, thin smoke could then
be seen stretched eastward across southern Quebec, northern Maine, Nova
Scotia, and Newfoundland. Throughout the day, smoke continued to spread
eastward, and the thickest smoke was visible over South Dakota and Iowa
this evening.

Western Canada:
A few pockets of thin remnant smoke were seen swirling around parts of
the Northwest Territories, Alberta, and southern Saskatchewan/southern
Manitoba. This smoke is probably from fires that had been burning in
the southwest corner of Northwest Territories and northwest Alberta
over the past few days. The smoke was pulled southward around the base
of an upper level trough over central Canada and could be seen crossing
into the US over northeast Montana, northern North Dakota, and northern
Minnesota where it mixes with smoke from the western US wildfires.

Blowing Dust/Sand, Oregon:
Blowing dust/sand originating from Summer Lake began at 16:45Z and
continued through sunset. Dust/sand moved northeastward across the state,
and mixed with remnant smoke in the region.

Blowing Dust/Sand, California:
Blowing dust/sand originating from Honey Lake began at 21:15Z and
continued through sunset. Dust/sand moved towards the east into Nevada.

LP/Sheffler


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.