DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z August 24, 2014
SMOKE: Northern Canada: Numerous wildfires burning in the Northwest Territories are producing light to moderately dense smoke moving east across the Territories and stretching all way to the Hudson Bay. Most of the smoke near the point sources though is moderately dense to dense and the residual smoke pressing east is light. British Columbia/Northwestern U.S: An area of smoke from fires in British Columbia continued to be seen this evening over the central part of the province. In addition, smoke either from the B.C. wildfires or possibly from the fires in the Northwest Territories had become entrained along the frontal boundary that is approaching the Pacific Northwest. Thin smoke was present over northwest Oregon, western Washington, Vancouver Island and other parts of southwest British Columbia along with being seen offshore over the Pacific. Northern California/Southwest Oregon/Nevada: Multiple wildfire complexes in the northern part of California and one in southwest Oregon were producing moderately dense to dense smoke. Residual thin smoke can be seen off the Pacific Coast and also stretching east across northern California and into sections northwest Nevada. Central and Northern Rockies/Central to Northern Plains: Aerosol can be seen stretched around the southern edge of the upper level atmospheric trough across portions of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota. This aerosol is believed to be a mixture of remnant smoke from the northern California wildfires and blowing dust. Another separate area of aerosol is present over east Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, east Nebraska, northwest Missouri, Iowa, southeast South Dakota, and southern Minnesota which is believed to be mostly comprised of blowing dust. Both of these areas of aerosol were being lifted north/northeast towards the Northern Plains and Midwest. 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