Sunday, July 26, 2015

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1745Z July 26, 2015

Smoke:
Alaska/Yukon Territory:
Remnant thin to moderately dense smoke from wildfires burning in
central Alaska has progressed to the east across the Yukon Territory
and western parts of the Northwest Territories. Additional small patches
of thin remnant smoke also are seen over parts of northern and eastern
Alaska. Thick cloud cover rotating up from the southern part of the
state has largely obscured the wildfires and any resulting smoke over
central Alaska.

Canada/Northern US:
A large area of thin remnant smoke exists over north and central/south
central Canada, including Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, Ontario, western Quebec, and parts of Hudson Bay as well as
the northern US states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, and northern Michigan. Some moderately dense smoke is analyzed
over the western shore of Hudson Bay as well as over central Ontario
into southwest Quebec as the smoke wraps around a low pressure system
centered over southern Hudson Bay. Much of this smoke is believed to have
been transported around the world from wildfires burning in Siberia. A
few fires burning the past two days near Great Slave Lake in northwest
Canada and fires in the northwestern US likely have also contributed a
little to the smoke mixture in the atmosphere.

Western US:
Two plumes of thin smoke with some embedded moderately dense smoke
are present across the western US stretching from the California
coast northeastward towards southern Oregon/far southwest Idaho/western
Nevada. Some small patches of moderately dense smoke are seen over western
Nevada and near wildfire locations in the Sierra Nevada. These fires are
mostly the reason for the remnant smoke but some thin smoke, especially
further west along the California coast, is probably from Siberian fires.

Dust:
Saharan dust is present across the far western portion of the Gulf
of Mexico and extends north across much western Texas wrapping north
and northwest across parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas before
becoming indistinguishable due to cloud cover.

Sheffler

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.