DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z July 8, 2015
SMOKE: Alaska/Yukon: An area of light density remnant smoke was seen in central Alaska moving east into Yukon ahead of abundant cloud cover over most of Alaska and Yukon. This area of remnant smoke originated from wildfires in central Alaska the last few days. Canada/Pacific Northwest/Northern Plains/Great Lakes: An area of light to moderate remnant smoke from the wildfires in southwest British Columbia was observed over British Columbia (including Vancouver Island) moving southeast into Washington, northern Oregon and northern Idaho. Smoke from the fires in southeast Yukon and from northern British Columbia to northern Saskatchewan covered northeast British Columbia, most of Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. Light density smoke was observed over most of the Northern Plains and Great Lakes regions where areas were not obscured by clouds. A band of moderate smoke extended eastward through North Dakota and eastern Minnesota. Heavy smoke was seen over central Saskatchewan moving south towards central Manitoba. Another area of light to heavy density smoke was seen over west central to northwest Quebec east of Hudson Bay although clouds from a large storm system reduced any chance of further observation. Eastern US: A larger area of light density residual smoke was seen in the eastern US spanning from South Carolina to Newfoundland and Labrador with an embedded area of moderately dense smoke. This area of smoke can be seen out ahead of clouds associated with convection over the Midwest and Central Plains and originated from Canadian wildfires. DUST: Gulf of Mexico/Southern U.S/Atlantic Ocean: An area of Saharan dust is once again seen in GOES satellite imagery over the southwest Gulf of Mexico and portions of the western Caribbean. Dust is not discernible inland over east Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley, but aerosol models do show that the dust extends as far north as Missouri, Illinois and Indiana and all of the southeast. An arm of dust also extends northward across the Bahamas and then gently curves to the northeast well off the coast of the Carolinas. -Kemal/Ruminski 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