DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1730Z August 5, 2015
SMOKE Mid-Atlantic: An area of light-density smoke is visible traveling up the coast from North Carolina to New Jersey. This smoke is remnant from the wildfires burning in the Pacific NW, and is mixed with Saharan dust that has been traveling up the coast from the Caribbean. Pacific Northwest/Southwest and Central Canada/Northern Plains: Large areas of light to medium-density smoke is visible moving NE through the US Pacific NW beginning in northern California up to southern British Columbia where it begins to move eastward towards the Atlantic Ocean through the central US. As this remnant smoke meets the central plains, the smoke converges with additional remnant smoke from Alaska and Canada as it travels east. The heaviest areas of smoke are visible in California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. This remnant smoke originates from the wildfires burning in the Pacific NW and southern British Columbia. Northwestern Canada/Central Canada: An area of light to heavy density smoke is visible emitting from the wildfires near Great Slave Lake in the NW Territories. Areas affected include Nunavut, NW Territories, northern Alberta, and Saskatchewan, with the heaviest smoke located in the NW Territories. A second plume of medium-density smoke is visible to the SE moving through Ontario, the Great Lakes, and Michigan. Alaska: Areas of light to medium density smoke is visible originating from central Alaska where it is observed moving east into Yukon and the Northwest Territories and converging with smoke that is being emitted from fires near Great Slave Lake. DUST Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean: Areas of Saharan dust is visible throughout the Caribbean westward across the Gulf of Mexico and into Texas, the Gulf coast states and the southeastern US. The dust was also visible passing from the eastern Gulf of Mexico over Florida and NE into the Atlantic Ocean and all along the eastern seaboard. 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