Monday, May 11, 2015

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z May 11, 2015

Western Canada/Pacific Northwest:
An extended area of aerosols is seen across much of eastern British
Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, eastern Manitoba, and southward into
western Montana. This area of aerosol is believed to consist of mostly
remnant smoke originating from Asia, although newer source regions
for this smoke have appeared over the past few days. One new area is
from fires occurring in north-central British Columbia that appear
to be producing light to moderate density smoke currently moving to
the north. Another newer source region is in southern Saskatchewan and
southern Manitoba, where numerous agricultural burns have been occurring
over the past few days, contributing multiple light density smoke plumes
drifting towards the west-southwest and congealing within the larger
area of aerosol.

Southeastern U.S:
An area of light density remnant smoke is seen across much of the
southeastern U.S over Georgia, the Florida panhandle, Alabama, Tennessee,
and into Kentucky. This smoke likely originates from regional seasonal
burning in southern and eastern Mexico.

Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico/Eastern U.S:
A large area of Saharan dust is seen stretching across much of the
Caribbean Sea and northwestward into most of the Gulf of Mexico as well
as over southern Florida. This Saharan dust appears to also be mixing
with a large area of smoke focused in the western Gulf of Mexico,
originating from fires occurring in Mexico. The dust has also seemed
to have been transported up along the eastern seaboard likely due to
Tropical Depression Ana, and dust is seen as far north along the coast
as the Mid-Atlantic coast, specifically up to New Jersey.

Heeps

From earlier today:
SMOKE

Pacific Northwest/Western Canada:
A large area of aerosols is visible in satellite imagery extending from
the Northwest Territories across the border into Montana. The band of
aerosols can be seen moving to the south from the central portions of the
Northwestern Territories through Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Montana. It
is suspected that aerosol is elevated remnant smoke originating from Asia
as well as light density smoke from yesterday's wildfires in north-central
British Columbia.

Florida:
A small detached plume of light-density smoke is visible this morning
moving NE just NWof Lake Okeechobee. This smoke is remnant from the
agricultural burns taking place there yesterday.

Western Gulf of Mexico:
A large area of light-density smoke was visible this morning ranging
from the Western shore of Mexico all the way east to the Yucatan
Peninsula. This smoke originates from the agricultural burns that have
been continuing there for several weeks.

AEROSOLS:

East Coast:
Due to the winds of Tropical Storm Ana, it has carried a mass of aerosols
with it up the Atlantic coast, notably offshore the Southeastern states,
but moving towards the Northeast off the coast of Maryland. These
aerosols are most likely Saharan dust, that has been traveling through
the Caribbean the last week, but potentially mixed with remnant smoke
from the agricultural burning in Mexico and Central America.


Oegerle

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.