DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1815Z September 24, 2012
Western and Central US/Southwestern Canada: Large and numerous wildfires continue to burn again today through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Light to moderately dense smoke was seen moving westward and southward just off the western coast down towards central California and then also southeastward stretching through the central Plains and into the northern Gulf of Mexico. The more moderately dense smoke was seen throughout the Pacific Northwest and then through Montana, southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and then into the central Plains and mid to southern Mississippi Valley. Northern and Western Canada: Areas of light to moderate smoke originating from the fires burning in northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta could be seen stretching from Northwest Territories into eastern British Columbia and then through central Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan today. This area of smoke is all moving towards the south/southeast and mixing with the larger area of remnant smoke from the Pacific Northwest fires. Belge 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