DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1730Z August 20, 2014
Northwest Canada: Thin to moderately dense smoke was seen this morning extending south/southeastward across the Arctic Ocean and parts of the Northwest Territories and western Nunavut. This is likely remnant smoke that had previously been wrapped into the Arctic from Canadian wildfires but there is a chance that wildfires in Siberia may also have added some smoke. Southern Canada/North Central US: Smoke from wildfires in western and central/south central Canada could be seen over portions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Hudson Bay with the southern extent stretching into North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the southern part of Lake Michigan. Much of the remnant smoke was thin to moderate density with the heaviest density smoke near the wildfires in south central British Columbia. Western US: Several wildfires in northwest California had produced thin to moderately dense smoke yesterday and this morning that extended east-northeast across northern Nevada, southeast Oregon, and southern Idaho. The fires were producing fresh smoke this morning that was moving south and southeast. Southeast US: An area of aerosol thought to be thin remnant smoke was observed along the coast of northeast Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and southeast North Carolina. This smoke may be from fires yesterday in the southeast US. Further south and southern Florida, an aerosol seen stretching east-west is thought to be elevated dust particles. Central/South Central US: Elevated dust is evident from southern Texas northward across Oklahoma/Kansas and may also extend eastward over parts of Louisiana/Arkansas/Mississippi. Sheffler 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