DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
SMOKE: Alaska: A band of heavy density smoke was visible stretching across a majority of the state east into Yukon. This area of smoke originated from wildfires in central/southwestern Alaska. A separate plume of light density smoke is visible moving NE in the Gulf of Alaska, off the coast of Graham Island. Central Canada/US: A large area of light to heavy density smoke is visible over the majority of central Canada and US. This smoke originates from the numerous wildfires in southwestern/central Alaska as well as SE Yukon, southern portions of the NW Territories, northern Alberta, and northern Saskatchewan. The heaviest smoke is visible moving SE in NW Territories, Nunavut, western British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, western Ontario, Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, western Iowa, Nebraska, eastern Kansas, and eastern Oklahoma. Medium smoke is visible moving E/SE in the NW Territories, Yukon, eastern British Columbia, Nunavut, northern Manitoba, northern Ontario, southern Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, eastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, northern Arkansas, southern Illinois, Tennessee, northern Mississippi, northern Alabama, and northern Georgia. Light smoke is visible flanking areas of the heaviest smoke, affecting southern Saskatchewan, eastern Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Missouri. Eastern Canada: A plume of medium-density smoke is visible off Newfoundland and Labrador moving NE into the Atlantic Ocean. This smoke originates from the few wildfires burning in that area as well as remnant smoke from the wildfires west in Canada and Alaska. Great Lakes: Separate plumes of light to medium density smoke are visible in between cloud cover over the Great Lakes region encompassing Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, and Quebec moving eastward. This remnant smoke is associated with the wildfires that have been burning in Alaska and central Canada the last few weeks. Idaho/Nevada: A plume of light-density smoke is visible moving NE through NE Nevada across the state of Idaho. This smoke is associated with the wildfires that are burning in Southern California and northern Baja Mexico, and possibly from some smoke that has come down from Canada/Alaska. DUST Gulf of Mexico: Remnant Saharan dust is visible in a majority of the Gulf of Mexico, notably in the NW affecting the Texas gulf coast moving north towards Oklahoma. There is also considerable dust moving east and reaching the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi as well. It is possible that there may be smoke mixed in with the dust, as there has been signs of oil exploration in the Bay of Campeche. 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