DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0400Z July 12, 2015
SMOKE Canada/US: Large expanses of smoke, ranging from light to heavy-densities, are visible over extended areas of Canada and US. Due to the wildfires currently burning in southwestern to south central Canada as well as northern/central Saskatchewan, smoke continues to be visible moving eastward from the west. Light density smoke is visible over the majority of Canada, with the thickest densities visible over Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Hudson Bay, Ontario, Quebec, northern/central US, New England, and the Canadian Maritimes into the Atlantic. DUST: Texas: Saharan dust is visible moving north from the Gulf of Mexico through Texas into Oklahoma/Arkansas at sunset. This dust has been traveling over the Atlantic Ocean and through the Gulf of Mexico. Baja California: A plume of Saharan dust is visible moving up Baja California towards the border of California and Arizona. This dust has been traveling over the Atlantic Ocean and through the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier and continuing: 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. Central Plains: An area of light to medium density smoke is visible moving NE through Wyoming into Montana and North/South Dakota. This smoke originates from a couple wildfires located near the Montana/Wyoming border. DUST 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 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