DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z July 13, 2015
SMOKE: Canada/US: Large areas of smoke, ranging from light to heavy-densities, are visible over extended areas of central/eastern Canada and US. 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. Heavy density smoke spreads across northern/central Saskatchewan/Manitoba and into northern/central Ontario. Moderately dense smoke is seen across southeastern Northwest Territories, southern Nunavut through northern Ontario, and over eastern Quebec and south into Canadian Maritimes and off in the Atlantic. Lighter smoke is seen throughout Canada and dropping down into the northern US including Montana, Central Plains, Upper Mississippi Valley and into the Mid Atlantic and Northeast US. Cloud cover across western and northeast sections of Canada is blocking the view of current and residual smoke from wildfires burning in Saskatchewan and Alaska. Alaska: Wildfires located mainly across central Alaska are producing moderately dense to dense smoke across central/eastern Alaska and with lighter smoke extending to the extreme northeastern edge of the Bering Sea. The heaviest smoke is in the central section of the state. Overall, northern/central regions of the state are covered by various densities of smoke and spreading eastward as far as western Yukon Territory border. DUST Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean/Southern Plains/Mississippi Valley/Southeastern US: A large area of Saharan dust visible moving west in satellite imagery over the Caribbean and crossing over the northern/central Yucatan Peninsula and into the southern edge sections of the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, the dust is visible making its way eastward across the eastern edge of the Southern Plains into the Mississippi Valley/Southeast and most likely mixing with other aerosols. 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