DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z September 17, 2012
Pacific Northwest: Smoke from the numerous wildfires in Washington and Oregon is now moving to the west and extends from the fires – mainly on the east side of the Cascades – across the Cascades and into the Pacific. The northern edge of the smoke crosses the southern portion of Puget Sound with the southern edge just north of North Bend. This is mainly light density smoke with patches of moderate density around the Columbia valley. Idaho/Montana/Wyoming/Utah: A strong trof dropping into the northern Plains is having a large impact on the smoke from the numerous long burning wildfires over the region. The smoke is now mainly moving to the south covering much of southern Idaho, southwest Montana, western Wyoming and northern Utah. Most of the smoke is light density, although most of the valleys in central Idaho in the vicinity of the fires are covered in moderate to dense smoke this morning. Southern Plains to Great Lakes and New England: An extensive area of light smoke was seen over this region, although the exact extent is difficult to determine due to extensive cloud cover. The southern edge of the smoke is seen wrapping around the western edge of an upper level cyclonic circulation over central Texas. The smoke area then extends to the northeast across eastern Oklahoma, Missouri and into the southern and eastern Great Lakes, New England, southeast Ontario, southern Quebec and into the Atlantic. Most of this area appears to be light density smoke, with an area of moderate density from northeast Pennsylvania to the Gulf of Maine. Ruminski 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