DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1815Z August 19, 2015
SMOKE: Western US/SW Canada: Large areas of smoke ranging from light to heavy density are visible over a majority of the western US as well as southwest Canada. The heaviest smoke is visible over parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Moderate density smoke is visible in this region as well, extending south Nevada as well as over areas of California where other wildfires are burning. The lighter smoke spreads as far east as Colorado and as far north as southern British Columbia. This smoke is mostly from large wildfires burning in the western US. In addition, over parts of Alberta and British Columbia, mostly thin smoke that appears to have originated from Asia is seen moving southeastward. North Central US/South Central Canada/Hudson Bay: An area of smoke wraps around the backside of an upper low over the Midwest. The smoke extends from the Dakotas north and then northeast across southern Manitoba and along the Manitoba/Ontario border. Another area of thin smoke is present of Hudson Bay as well. This smoke is likely from fires in the western US. Northeast US/Eastern Canada: Areas of residual light smoke are seen as far south southern New England extending north and northeast towards Maine and south of Nova Scotia. Other thin smoke is seen over the Gulf of St. Lawrence and across parts of Newfoundland. This smoke originates from the wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. Additional aerosol seen mixed between clouds over the Great Lakes may be smoke-related but could not be confirmed given the general hazy appearance. DUST Texas/New Mexico: An aerosol seen over southern New Mexico and west/central Texas is believed to be elevated dust particles. Gulf of California: Optically thick dust particles can be seen in the morning GOES imagery moving west and southwest from northwest Mexico across portions of the Gulf of California. Sheffler 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