Tuesday, June 18, 2013

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0115Z June 19, 2013

Midwest US:
An area of light smoke, likely from the numerous wildfires in Canada,
can be seen moving south from the Canadian border through Minnesota,
Wisconsin, into Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

Canada:
Fires west of James Bay in Quebec are producing medium to heavy density
smoke which is moving to the east.

Alaska:
There are three large fire complexes in Alaska which are emitting copious
amount of heavy smoke.  This smoke is moving to the west and then north
through the Bering Strait.

Gulf of Mexico:
A large area of Saharan Dust is located throughout the entire southern
portion of the Gulf of Mexico.

-Salemi

Earlier Today:
Ontario/Western Quebec/Upper Mississippi Valley/Great Lakes region:
An area of light to moderate smoke extends south of Hudson Bay
across Ontario and into northeast Minnesota and northern/central
Michigan/Wisconsin from wildfires burning across mostly Manitoba and
other sections of central Canada.  The heaviest smoke extends south
of Hudson Bay into central Ontario.  Another line of heavier smoke
stretches across northern Minnesota/Michigan and into central Wisconsin.
The general flow of the smoke is SSE.

Alaska/Gulf of Alaska:
Most of Alaska is covered with light to moderately dense smoke from
wildfires burning across the state.  The smoke flows around a large
area of high pressure over the state.  A streak of heavier smoke extends
along the western sections of the state, then wraps north along the edges
and back south through central Alaska.  Currently, some of the smoke is
moving  south into the Gulf of Alaska.

Northern Mexico/SE Arizona/SW New Mexico:
Wildfires burning just south of the southeast border of Arizona are
producing light to moderate smoke moving northeast across the border
and reaching into southwest New Mexico.

J Kibler

THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS
OF 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.