DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z August 21, 2013
US/South Central and Southeast Canada/Northern Mexico: A broad area of thin to moderately dense smoke from the numerous fires burning across the Western US extends across much of Montana and Wyoming and then fans out to the east and south covering all of the Plains and then curving to the southwest across western Texas and into northern Mexico. The smoke also continues across the northern and central Mississippi valley, across the Great Lakes states and adjoining areas of southern Canada, New England, the northern mid Atlantic and off the Atlantic Coast across over and south of Nova Scotia. There is likely some haze pollution mixed in with the smoke over the Great Lakes states and northern Ohio valley. Areas of moderate to dense smoke were observed near the active fires in Idaho, western Montana and northwest Wyoming and also over the northern and central Plains from South Dakota to Oklahoma. Another patch of moderately dense smoke was seen from central Lake Michigan to eastern Missouri. California: Several large fires were generating significant smoke in the Sierra Nevada and also the Klamath mountains in northwest California. The smoke was being drawn into the circulation around a large cyclonic circulation off the coast with the smoke covering much of northern California and southern Oregon and extending off the coast into the Pacific. Much of the smoke was moderately dense with patches of dense smoke near the fire sources. Labrador Sea: An aerosol was still seen this evening east of eastern Labrador and Newfoundland in the Labrador Sea. It is likely remnant smoke from fires in northern Canada or possibly Siberia. Ruminski 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