DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0400Z September 24, 2014
Western US to South Central Canada: Areas of thin remnant smoke had been pulled northeastward across the northern Rockies and over southern parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The smoke was not as easy to recognize over western Montana and Idaho due to extensive cloud cover. This smoke is from several fires burning in the western US...most notably the King Fire in central California. Moderately dense to dense smoke associated with this fire was seen just west and north of Lake Tahoe and extending northeast across northwestern Nevada. A plume of remnant thin to moderately dense smoke likely from the King wildfire was also oriented from north central California southward across San Francisco Bay and over the Pacific. Central and Northwest Canada: An area of thin remnant smoke is seen stretching from central Saskatchewan/northwest Manitoba northward over southern Nunavut. This smoke is likely from recent fires in British Columbia and possibly also from renewed fire activity just west of Great Slave Lake where locally dense smoke was being emitted tonight. Some smoke from the western US wildfires may also have been entrained into the southern end of the smoke plume. Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles/Western Kansas: An aerosol that is thought to be blowing dust is seen over parts of the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles/Southwest Kansas this evening as strong winds picked up along a frontal boundary. The possible dust was observed from about 22Z until sunset at 0045Z. Western Gulf/South and Southwest Texas/Northeast Mexico: An unknown aerosol is seen along an old frontal boundary that is draped over the Gulf of Mexico. The aerosol extends west across far southern Texas and then northeastward along the Rio Grande/US-Mexico border. There was an area of smoke observed along this boundary Monday morning/evening caused by fires in the south central US Sunday/Monday...however it is likely that other aerosols are now mixed in. 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