Saturday, April 18, 2015

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z April 19, 2015

Northwestern US/Southwestern Canada:
The area of smoke attributed to large fires burning across Siberia spread
farther to the south and east during the day and now encompassed a broad
region covering the northwestern portion of the US as well as much of
southwestern Canada. Most of the smoke was of thin density but some
density approaching the moderate category was detected across the area
from northern California to northern Utah and from western Washington
to off the Pacific NW coast.

Blowing Dust
Western Texas:
An area of thin density blowing dust originated from multiple source
regions between Lubbock and Midland in western Texas prior to 20Z and
moved to the northeast reaching the border with southwestern Oklahoma
just before sunset.

JS


Earlier This Morning...
Pacific Northwest/Canada:
A relatively expansive plume of smoke is capture in morning visible
satellite imagery extending from southern Saskatchewan across central
Montana, northern two-thirds of Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and northern
California.  This area of smoke (with a low probability of dust/sand
mixed in) has been traced back to numerous large wildfires burning
across Siberia.  These fires produced pyrocumulus clouds that enabled
the smoke to rise quickly and become entrained in the atmospheric jet
stream.  The first plume of smoke that has been since transported across
the northern Pacific and is now located over the Pacific Northwest and
southwestern to south-central Canada.  Additional large detached smoke
plumes were seen yesterday beginning to follow the same trajectory.

A blog from NASA provides an excellent track of the history of this event
(ozoneaq.gsfc.nasa.gov/omps/blog).

Warren

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.