DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z July 17, 2015
SMOKE: Central and Northern Canada/Northern Alaska: Areas of light to moderate density remnant smoke were observed throughout northern Alaska, northern and central Canada this evening although cloud cover made it difficult to distinguish the full extent of these areas of smoke. An area of light density remnant smoke was seen spanning from northern Alaska east into northern Yukon, the northern portions of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and finally into Hudson Bay. This area of smoke that originated from Alaska and Canadian wildfires also expanded north of Alaska into the Beaufort Sea and was drawn west into the Chukchi Sea. A smaller area of light to moderate density remnant smoke was seen in northeastern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan, northern Manitoba, the eastern portions of the Northwest Territories, and northwest Ontario. Several heavy density smoke plumes were seen within this area of remnant smoke southeast of Great Slave Lake. Wildfires in central Saskatchewan were producing smoke plumes but were eventually obscured by clouds that were generated by convection. DUST: Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico/Southeast US: A large area of Saharan dust is moving westward across the Atlantic, the Caribbean and into the southern Gulf of Mexico. This area of dust is diffuse and has moved across the southern Gulf of Mexico and along the Mexico/Texas coastline. Also seen in imagery is dust moving across the southeast and off the Atlantic coast around the Carolinas towards the east. This dust may be mixed in with other aerosols. -Cronin 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