Wednesday, May 20, 2015

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z May 21, 2015

SMOKE:
Western Canada/Central Canada/Northern Plains:
A large area of light density remnant smoke was seen stretching
from eastern Alaska through Yukon, northeastern British Columbia, the
Northwest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, into the Northern
Plains and western Ontario.  This area of remnant smoke originated
from wildfires in Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Embedded within this area of remnant smoke, heavy smoke from a wildfire
east of Garson Lake in northern Saskatchewan was seen moving SSE.
Several agricultural/prescribed burns were observed in Saskatchewan and
Manitoba and contributed to the area of light density remnant smoke with
light density smoke plumes primarily moving south.

Western Gulf of Mexico:
An area of light density remnant smoke was observed over the western Gulf
of Mexico spanning from the Gulf of Campeche to the Texas coastline.
This area of smoke is mostly a result of seasonal agricultural burning
in Central America.

-Cronin

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.