DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z July 23, 2014
SMOKE: Canada/U.S: An enormous amount of smoke persists over much of Canada and central/eastern portions of the U.S, originating from large wildfire complexes throughout the Northwest Territories surrounding Great Slave and Great Bear Lake. Smoke is light to heavy in density, and is visible through most of western Canada, descending southward into the U.S. over the northern Plains and upper Mississippi Valley and across most of the central U.S, and over the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast into southern Quebec. Multiple areas of moderate smoke are seen within the plume; one area closest to the wildfires over NW Territories, Nunavut, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, reaching the U.S. over North Dakota, and an elongated strip of moderate density smoke visible over the Great Lakes, stretching southward over the Ohio Valley, middle and lower Mississippi Valley, and out over the Gulf of Mexico. Smoke is heaviest closest to the wildfires, spreading south over Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as a separate patch of heavy density smoke over Texas and northern portions of the Gulf of Mexico. Eastern Canada: A detached area of light density remnant smoke is visible along the eastern coast of Canada, stretching from the western coast of Baffin Island over Newfoundland, Labrador, and extending just north of New Brunswick. This area of smoke originates from the wildfires across the NW Territories. Central Plains: An area of light to moderate density smoke remains throughout the central Plains, most likely originating from newer wildfires through Nevada and Utah. Light density smoke is seen over Wyoming, northern Utah, northern Colorado, southern Nebraska, Kansas, and western Iowa. Moderate density smoke is visible over Kansas and western Iowa. A patch of moderate to heavy density smoke is also visible moving slowly over Wyoming. Alaska/Western Canada: An area of light density smoke is seen over western Alaska, spreading eastward over Yukon and Northwest Territories, as well as southward over northern portions of the Gulf of Alaska. This smoke originates from wildfires occurring in eastern Siberia near Lake Baikal that has made its way eastward. DUST: Gulf of Mexico/Texas: A surge of Saharan dust is seen through central portions of the Gulf of Mexico, currently extending over southern Texas. The full extent of this area of dust is difficult to discern due to the thick smoke descending southward across the central U.S. 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