DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
SMOKE: Alaska: An elongated stream of smoke was seen spanning from southwestern Alaska to northern Yukon. Light density remnant smoke was seen over southwestern Alaska into the Bering Sea and on the periphery of dense smoke centered over central Alaska. This smoke originated from wildfires in central Alaskan that continue to emit dense smoke. Central Canada/US: An expansive area of light to heavy density smoke was observed moving southeast into the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, then split with denser smoke moving southward into the Midwest and Mississippi river valley, and another area of light to medium density smoke moving eastward into western Ontario, and Hudson Bay. Wildfires in southern portions of the Northwest Territories, northern Alberta and Saskatchewan are still producing heavy smoke in addition to the heavy smoke moving southward that continues to surge into the central US. Clouds in southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan have begun to obscure dense smoke in southern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. This area of smoke originated from Alaskan wildfires with the majority of the smoke coming from central Canada. Great Lakes Region: An area of light density remnant smoke was seen over the Great Lakes region this evening with a band of medium density remnant smoke spanning from Michigan to the southern border of Quebec. This area of remnant smoke originated from Canadian and Alaskan wildfires. Pacific Northwest: A SW to NE originated band of light density smoke was seen over northeastern Oregon, eastern Washington and into northern Idaho. This area of remnant smoke was generated from wildfires in the southwestern US and northern Baja. 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. -Cronin/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