DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z April 21, 2015
SMOKE: Two streams of very high altitude moderately dense smoke originating from Siberian fires (SE of Lake Baikal near the Mongolian boarder) are within a large area of thin smoke that covers the bulk of the continental United States and central/western Canada. Central/Eastern US The main stream is centered through a polar jet that extends from Western NW Territories, across Saskatchewan and E Alberta into W ND, E MT, SD, NEB before turning east around the base of the trof into MO, S IL, S IN, S OH, and Kentucky. Additional pockets of moderate smoke can be seen at the leading edge of the jet across central VA. Thin smoke covers much of the Mid-Atlantic states to NC. West US A second stream of moderate smoke is laid out along a weak ridge across UT, NV before being affected by SSWly flow out of the Pacific covering much of OR and WA. This smoke appears generally stagnant or moving NW before moving N across WA/OR. Thin smoke covers much of the area between the streams including the bulk of the Rocky Mtn. Range as far south as N NM. Gallina 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