DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z June 23, 2015
SMOKE Alaska/Yukon/British Columbia: A prolific amount of wildfires were observed across much of Alaska and into western Yukon this afternoon/evening. These wildfires continue to produce a broad area of smoke over central and southern Alaska, southwestern Yukon, and northwestern British Columbia. Heavy density smoke was seen with the majority of the wildfires in central Alaska near the intersection of the Yukon River and Tanana River. This area of heavy smoke was primarily moving to the east along with moderate density smoke that spanned from western Alaska to northwestern British Columbia. Central Canada/Northern Plains: Two separate areas of light to moderate density remnant smoke were observed over the Northern Plains and in Central Canada this evening. A light to moderate density stream of remnant smoke was seen stretching from northeastern Colorado, through southern South Dakota into northern Iowa. This area of smoke originated from a smoke plume that detached from a wildfire yesterday in Alpine county California, called Washington fire, and was moving to the east. A large area of light density remnant smoke from Canadian wildfires was seen moving to the southeast in southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, northeastern Montana, southern Manitoba, North Dakota, northeastern South Dakota and northern Minnesota. US Southwest/Intermountain West: Multiple wildfires continue to be observed in California, Arizona and New Mexico. A significant wildfire in Alpine county California, called Washington fire, was producing an optically thick smoke plume that spanned from the wildfire to northeastern Nevada. Lake Fire, a wildfire in San Bernardino County California, was emitting heavy density smoke that was moving to the the northeast. Several more wildfires in central/eastern Arizona and western New Mexico were producing light to moderate density smoke to the east. Clouds from convection in New Mexico began to obscure the smoke associated with the wildfires in New Mexico. A band of light density residual smoke was seen extending from the Channel Islands off the coast of California through central Nevada, northern Utah, and southwestern Colorado. Another diffuse area of light density residual smoke was seen over southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Both areas of residual smoke originated from the wildfires in California, Arizona and New Mexico and have circulated clockwise around an anticyclonic flow centered in the US southwest the last few days. DUST Gulf of Mexico/Central Plains/Southern US: A broad area of light to moderate Saharan dust remains over the western Gulf of Mexico and extends northward into the southern US, Central Plains and eastward off the eastern US coastline but no further north than North Carolina. Clouds from afternoon convection along the southeast US coastline and clouds over the Midwest partially obscured the extent of the Saharan dust. -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