DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z September 30, 2014
SMOKE: Central U.S/Canada: A large area of light-density smoke continued to be seen throughout the central US and Great Lakes region. The smoke stretched from north Texas northward to the Nebraska/South Dakota border and then northeastward along a frontal boundary across the Midwest states to southern Michigan. Numerous agricultural burns that have been taking place in the Southern Plains and along the Lower Mississippi River Valley the past few days are the cause of this area of remnant smoke and additional fires were present in those areas today. Gulf of Alaska to the Pacific Northwest Coastline: An expansive area of aerosol is present off the western coast of North America stretching from the Gulf of Alaska southeastward to the Oregon/Washington coasts. Aerosol models indicate that this could be smoke from Asia that has made its way across the Northern Pacific. In addition, within the Gulf of Alaska another event is adding a different aerosol to the mix. Re-suspended volcanic ash from the Novarupta volcanic eruption of 1912 is seen moving south and southeast from the Alaska Peninsula across Kodiak Island and over the Gulf of Alaska. Strong northerly winds are the cause of this elevated aerosol event. 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