DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z August 2, 2015
From Earlier: SMOKE Alaska and Western/Central Canada: An area of light to medium density smoke generated from Alaskan wildfires was visible moving east from central Alaska through Yukon, and into the Northwest Territories. A detached area of medium density remnant smoke was seen stretching from Nunavut and the northern portions of the Northwest Territories SE into Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. Another detachment of light density smoke is visible in the Bay of Alaska off the coast, from the wildfires burning from the north. This remnant smoke originates from the wildfires continuing to burn in central Alaska. Although clouds moving southwest into northwestern/central Alaska began to cover wildfire activity in central Alaskan. Western/Central US: Multiple areas of light to heavy density smoke is visible throughout the western and central US this morning. Heavy density smoke is visible moving east through South Dakota. Medium-density smoke is visible moving north from northern California and Oregon, Washington, and as far north as British Columbia where it moves east through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa. Light density remnant smoke is visible from the Pacific NW all the way east through the Midwest, where it is heading towards the Atlantic, but due to the limitations of GOES-W in the morning, it is difficult to determine these boundaries. A separate area of light density smoke is visible detaching from the west and moving SE into the Southern Plains, affecting Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. This remnant smoke originates from the numerous wildfires that are burning in northern/central California, SW Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Atlantic Ocean: A large stream of medium to light density smoke is visible moving NE offshore the Mid-Atlantic and north up the East Coast from Virginia up to Nova Scotia. This smoke originates from the wildfires burning in the western US. DUST Western Gulf Coast/Southern US: An area of Saharan dust is visible blowing through Florida and entering the Atlantic and up the coast. Another area of Saharan dust was seen across the Caribbean sea moving into the southern Gulf of Mexico as well as moving from the Caribbean Sea to northeast off the eastern seaboard of the US. Its also possible that these areas of smoke may be mixed with plumes of aerosols. 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