DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z August 17, 2014
Canada/Northwestern U.S: An extensive area of light to moderate density smoke persists across much of Canada, currently seen as far as the Northwestern U.S/Canadian border. The smoke extends from the Northwest Territories across southern Nunavut, much of the Hudson Bay, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and northern Ontario, into the U.S. over northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, and northwestern Montana. An embedded area of heavy density smoke is visible over northern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Smoke from wildfires occurring in British Columbia are also producing light to moderate density smoke which is drifting eastward and combining with the broader smoke plume over the rest of Canada. An area of light smoke can also be seen offshore of eastern Canada, mostly over the Atlantic but reaching southern Newfoundland. The full extent of the smoke is difficult to discern due to large amounts of cloud cover located over much of the region. Most of this smoke originates from large wildfire complexes that continue to burn around Great Slave Lake in NW Territories. Western U.S: Multiple large wildfires located in northern California are producing light to moderate density smoke, currently moving northeastward into Oregon. Another area of smoke associated with these wildfires is visible over Idaho, far southwestern Montana, and western Wyoming. DUST: A broad area of Saharan dust is currently over much of the southern Gulf of Mexico, reaching inland over South Florida to a line over Lake Okeechobee and the Texas coastline. 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