DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0215Z July 28, 2014
SMOKE: Canada/Northern U.S: An extensive area of light to heavy density smoke continues to impact Canada and drifting southward into the U.S. The smoke originates from wildfires occurring in Northwest Territories surrounding Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes. The smoke originates in the NW Territories, slowly swirling to the northeast before moving southward. The northern extent of the smoke is uncertain due to its far northern latitude. The smoke is drifting southward over NW Territories, Nunavut, and Hudson Bay, affecting British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and Ontario. All of this smoke is light to heavy in density. The light to heavy density smoke moves into the U.S. over the northern Plains, northern Mississippi Valley, and Upper Great Lakes region, and is currently seen as far south as northern Nebraska and Iowa. Heavy density smoke remains in southern Canada, while light to moderate smoke is impacting the U.S. Eastern Canada: An area of light to moderate density smoke is visible over Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, eastern Quebec and eastern Labrador, extending northward over the Labrador Sea. This patch of smoke originates from the Canadian wildfires occurring through NW Territories. Central U.S: An elongated area of light density remnant smoke is seen across the central U.S, over Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, northern Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This smoke originates from wildfires occurring in Nevada, Utah, and Idaho. Southeastern U.S: A small area of light density remnant smoke is seen over Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and northern Florida, extending northward along the South Carolina and North Carolina coastline. This area of smoke is detached from the larger area of smoke over the central U.S. DUST: Gulf of Mexico/Southern U.S: An area of Saharan dust is visible over western portions of the Gulf of Mexico, extending over the Texas coastline. Another area of Saharan dust is visible further inland, over northern Texas and into Oklahoma. 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