Tuesday, August 6, 2013

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

 


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.