DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0315Z July 17, 2014
SMOKE: Western and Central Canada/U.S: An extensive area of light to heavy density smoke is visible across much of Canada, originating from wildfires in northern Canada surrounding Great Slave and Great Bear Lake. The extent of the light density smoke is seen eastward over Hudson Bay, northern Quebec and as far as the eastern coast of Greenland, and southward over British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, into the U.S through the Northwestern U.S, northern and central Plains, Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes region. Moderate density smoke is visible over much of the same areas in Canada, and through the Northwestern U.S, northern Plains and upper Mississippi Valley in the U.S. Heavy density smoke is visible over the NW Territories, Nunavut, Hudson Bay, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and into the northern Plains. Relatively newer wildfires in British Columbia are contributing light to heavy density smoke to this much broader plume Western U.S: Wildfires appearing across Washington state and Oregon are emitting light to heavy density smoke across much of the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West regions. Light density smoke is seen moving southward across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. Moderate smoke is seen in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. Heavy density smoke associated with these wildfires is seen in Washington and Oregon, Heavy density smoke can also be seen descending southward across Montana and Idaho, associated with the wildfires occurring in Canada. DUST: California: An area of blowing dust is visible in southern California moving eastward, extending from the Anza-Borrego desert to the California/Arizona border. Gulf of Mexico/Gulf States: Saharan dust is visible over much of the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern extent seen over the coastline of the Gulf States. 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