DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1632Z August 6, 2013
Northern Plains/West Coast: An elongated area of light to moderately dense smoke is seen extending from South Dakota to Oregon then southward along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada of east-central California. The Packer Creek wildfire in western Wyoming continues to produce significant smoke and is the primary contributor the heavy dense smoke seen over western South Dakota. Additional wildfires across central Idaho, central and western Oregon and central California have contributed to the smoke across this region. Southern California: An area of remnant light smoke could be seen early this morning covering parts of southern California. Smoke is likely from a wildfire located in western Riverside county. Quebec/New Brunswick/Maine: A small, narrow band of light smoke was captured this morning in satellite imagery across portions of southeast Canada and extreme northern New England. The band was seen over portions of eastern Quebec and New Brunswick provinces as well as northern Maine. Smoke is believed to be associated with wildfires burning across north-central Canada. Central Canada: An expansive area of thin to moderately dense smoke could be seen covering much of central and northern Canada this morning. Smoke continues to swirl across portions of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeast British Columbia, Northwest Territories and Nunavut provinces. Embedded pockets of heavy, dense smoke was primarily concentrated over central Northwest Territories. Numerous wildfires across this region continue to burn and produce significant smoke. Alaska/Yukon: Less cloud cover across eastern Alaska and Yukon allowed for the detection of an area of light remnant smoke situated along the Alaska/Yukon border. Several wildfires located across eastern Alaska and western Yukon are likely the source of this are of remnant smoke. British Columbia: A small pocket of light smoke was seen drifting northward across parts of northwestern B.C. A wildfire located just to the south of the area of smoke is likely the smoke's origin. Southeast US: An plume of unknown aerosols (possibly pollution/haze) is slowly drifting eastward across portions of the southeast. The hazy looking aerosol plume is keeping close to a weather boundary draped across the region. Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico/Southern Texas: The expansive area of Saharan dust plume that stretches across the Caribbean, southern Gulf of Mexico, Yucatan peninsula is now seen moving over portions of southern Texas. Warren 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