DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0340Z July 16, 2014
SMOKE Western and Central Canada/U.S: An extensive area of smoke, much of it moderate to heavy density, is covering much of northern Canada from Northwest Territories eastward over Hudson Bay and northern Quebec, and westward over Nunavut. Smoke can be seen moving eastward/southeastward over British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and western Ontario. The smoke is drifting southward into the U.S. over the northern Plains. These areas of smoke are originating from long burning wildfires occurring in northern Canada around Great Slave and Great Bear Lakes. Relatively newer wildfires seen in British Columbia are also producing moderate to heavy density smoke that can be seen over southern British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. Additional fires in Washington state, Oregon and Idaho is producing smoke generally light to moderate in density that is drifting southward across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, northern Nevada, and Wyoming. Central/Southern Plains: Light density remnant smoke is seen moving southeastward across Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and northern Texas. This area of smoke is most likely a remnant patch of smoke from the Canadian fires, possibly mixed with smoke from wildfires occurring in the northwestern U.S. DUST: Gulf of Mexico: Saharan dust is visible moving northward across southern and central portions of the Gulf of Mexico, extending just south of the southern tip of Texas. California: An area of thick dust is seen in California extending from Bakersfield northward through the Great Valley and along the coastline to Redding, CA. 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