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