DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z August 6, 2015
SMOKE Alaska: An area of light to moderate density remnant smoke was observed being stretched from southwestern Alaska into northeastern Alaska. This smoke likely extended farther east into northern Yukon and connected with the smoke over the Northwest Territories but clouds obscured this connection. Wildfires in central Alaska continue to provide east moving moderate density smoke plumes which are contributing to the area of remnant smoke stretched across SW to NE Alaska. Northwestern Canada/Central Canada: Wildfires between Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake as well as wildfires in northern Saskatchewan are producing moderate to heavy density smoke plumes which are moving to the north. Over the past few days these wildfires have contributed to an area of light to moderate density remnant smoke that now spans from the site of the wildfires in the Northwest Territories through northern Saskatchewan, northern Manitoba, Nunavut, the northern portions of Hudson Bay into southern portions of Baffin Island. Pacific Northwest/Central Canada/Northern Plains/Central Plains: A band of moderate to heavy density smoke was seen from off the coast of central California moving northeast into southern Oregon, northern Nevada, and western Idaho. Clouds were in between this band of smoke and the light to moderate density remnant smoke over the Northern Plains, southern Alberta, ,southern Saskatchewan and the Central Plains suggested that these two areas of smoke might have converged. Although, the band of smoke originated from wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and the smoke over the Central US and Central Canada were from both wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and Canadian wildfires. Mid-Atlantic: An area of light-density smoke is visible across the mid-Atlantic states. This smoke is remnant from the wildfires burning in the Pacific NW, and is mixed with an aerosol composed of sulfates from the Southern Plains and Saharan dust that has been traveling up the coast from the Caribbean. Arizona: Several wildfires in Arizona were producing light to moderate density smoke plumes which were traveling east. AEROSOLS Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean/Southern US/US East Coast: Areas of Saharan dust are 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. Sulfates are likely present among the Saharan dust in the southern Plains, the southeastern US and the Mid-Atlantic states while smoke from wildfires in the Pacific Northwest is present in the Mid-Atlantic states as well. -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