Wednesday, July 9, 2014

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0245Z July 10, 2014

SMOKE:
Canada/U.S:
An extensive area of light to heavy density smoke continues to descend
southward from Northwest Territories over Alberta, Saskatchewan, and
Manitoba into the U.S over the Northern Plains, Mississippi Valley and
Ohio Valley. The smoke is seen as far south as Missouri, and hooks to
the east over Illinois and Indiana. The heaviest density smoke is seen
in the U.S over North Dakota, South Dakota, and northwestern Iowa, and
in Canada over Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and NW territories. This smoke
extends from wildfires occurring across NW Territories, and additional
smoke is being pumped into the plume from new wildfires appearing in
British Columbia and southern Alberta.

Washington:
Multiple named wildfires (specifically the Mills Canyon wildfire and Rock
Hill wildfire), as well as an unnamed fire are producing smoke plumes
that are moving eastward across Washington. Light to moderate density
smoke is being emitted from the fire in western Washington as well as the
Rock Hill wildfire in eastern Washington, and light to heavy density smoke
is being emitted from the Mills Canyon wildfire in central Washington.

DUST:
Southwestern U.S:
Blowing dust is seen across northern Baja California, southeastern
California to the Salton Sea, and southwestern Arizona. The dust is
originating from northern Baja California and northwestern Sonora, Mexico.

AEROSOLS:
An area of unknown aerosols remains along the southeastern coastline,
specifically Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The northern
extent of the aerosols off the coast of Virginia and New Jersey are
currently being obscured by clouds moving from the west.

Heeps


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.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/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.