DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z July 31, 2015

SMOKE
Alaska and Western/Central Canada:
Areas of light to medium density smoke are visible moving east from
central Alaska through Yukon, the NW Territories, and Nunavut. A smaller
detached plume is visible moving SE through Nunavut into Manitoba. This
remnant smoke originates from the wildfires continuing to burn in
central Alaska.

Western/Central US:
Large areas of light to heavy density smoke are seen throughout the
western region of the US moving eastward. Medium density smoke is visible
in northern California, Oregon, and Idaho. Light density smoke is visible
in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Idaho, Wyoming,
Saskatchewan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota,
Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. This remnant smoke
originates from the wildfires currently burning in northern California,
Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

DUST
Western Gulf Coast:
Large areas of dense Saharan dust is visible swirling around Texas,
Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and making its way back SE towards
the coast as well as moving eastward into the Southeast US.

AEROSOLS:
A large area of unknown aerosols are visible extending from the Florida
panhandle throughout the Southeast as far north as North Carolina and
offshore into the Atlantic Ocean.

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

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.