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