Wednesday, July 17, 2013

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0400Z July 18, 2013

Southern California/Nevada:
Remnant smoke from the Mountain fire in southern California drifted
north leaving thin density remnant smoke covering much of southern and
eastern Nevada.

Central US:
A mix of unknown aerosols is observed in GOES WEST  imagery this morning
over the central US. It was observed again in GOES EAST near sunset.
It is possible that there is a contribution of smoke that has dropped
south from wildfires in Canada but it is thought that the aerosol is
mainly comprised of haze and pollution.

West/Central Canada:
Moderate smoke is seen in central and southern Yukon territory from
several active smoke producing fires in that region. A broad band of
thin density smoke is observed in central Canada including parts of
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba that is remnant
from previously detected wildfires in the said regions. The remnant smoke
spread southward throughout the day. Also contributing to the smoke are
new fires seen southwest of Great Slave Lake. Another area of thin,
detached smoke was spotted over the Hudson Bay and likely originated
from western Canada.

Eastern Canada:
Moderate to dense remnant smoke is observed in extreme eastern Quebec,
Newfoundland, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Labrador and into the Labrador
Sea as a result of several wildfires that continue to burn in eastern
Quebec. Fires have produced enormous amounts of smoke for several days
that continues to drift southeastward into the Atlantic. Fires and smoke
were mostly obscured by clouds today.

US East Coast:
An area of light aerosol was observed along the East Coast from New
England through the mid Atlantic into the Southeast off the coast of
Georgia. It is not certain if the aerosol is mainly haze, smoke or a
combination of both.

LP/Ramirez


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.