DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z August 6, 2015
SMOKE Alaska: An area of light to moderate density remnant smoke was observed being stretched from central Alaska heading eastward into Yukon. This smoke is likely to extend farther east into northern Yukon and connect with the smoke over the Northwest Territories but clouds obscure this connection. Wildfires in central Alaska continue to provide moderate to heavy density smoke plumes moving southeast. Northwestern Canada/Central Canada: Wildfires in northern Saskatchewan and central Northwest Territories are providing light to moderate density smoke extending eastward in to western and southern Nunavut and central Hudson Bay. The moderate smoke is mainly seen in central Northwest Territories and NW Nunavut. The lighter density smoke is moving as far south as northeastern Manitoba but clouds obscure the full extent of the smoke. Pacific Northwest/Northern Plains/Central Plains: A band of moderate smoke is seen from off the coast of central California moving northeast into southern Oregon, northern Nevada, southern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming. 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. 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. -Kemal 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