Saturday July 11, 2015

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1730Z July 11, 2015

Canada/Northern Part of US from the Pacific Northwest to Central Plains
to off the Northeast US Coast:
Wildfires seen across portions of southwestern to south central Canada
including a large concentration over northern/central Saskatchewan
continue to burn resulting in a tremendous area of smoke which covered
a good portion of Canada and the northern US from the Pacific Northwest
across the Northern Plains and Great Lakes region to the Northeastern
US and off the coast of the Northeast and Canadian Maritimes over the
Atlantic. This vast areal coverage of smoke included patches of moderate
to thick density smoke stretching from central Alberta and Saskatchewan,
most of Manitoba/Ontario (except for far southern/northern regions) and
into western Quebec.  In the US, heavier smoke extends across northeast
Montana, central North Dakota, northeast South Dakota, southern Minnesota,
Michigan and northeast Iowa.  Then, heavier smoke stretches over eastern
Maine, across the Canadian Maritimes and into the Atlantic.

Alaska:
Wildfires located mainly across central Alaska is producing moderately
dense to dense smoke westward across central/western Alaska and into
the eastern Bering Sea.  A narrow band of moderately dense smoke can be
seen moving eastward across eastern Alaska and then northeast.  Overall,
most of the state is covered by various densities of smoke and spreading
eastward into northern/central Yukon Territory and farther west.

Saharan Dust and Other Aerosols:
Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean/South Central to Southeastern US:
An area of Saharan dust is seen moving west in satellite imagery over
the Caribbean and southern Gulf of Mexico. The dust is seen also moving
eastward from there across the remainder of the Southeastern US to off
the coast of the Carolina and Georgia and over the Atlantic. While much
of this aerosol over the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico is believed to be
Saharan dust, it is possible that other aerosols are mixed in with the
dust inland over the Southeastern US and off of the Carolina-Georgia
coast.

J Kibler


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.