Thursday, August 20, 2015

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z August 21, 2015

SMOKE:

Numerous large wildfires burning in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho,
and Montana are collectively responsible for blanketing the majority
of the western United States in light density (at minimum) remnant
smoke. Moderate density smoke is observed in northern California moving
east into western Nevada, and also from eastern Washington State and
Oregon southeast as far as the Nebraska – Iowa border. Heavy smoke is
limited to northern California, northeast Washington, and much of Montana.

From Earlier....
Midwest:
A ribbon of smoke is seen dipping down from along the Manitoba/Ontario
border covering much of Minnesota, eastern Iowa, southwest Wisconsin,
northern Illinois, and northwest Indiana. This smoke is obscured along
the western/southwestern edge of the upper low over the western Great
Lakes but is thought to be of Asian origin, possibly from fires burning
in Siberia.

Southeast Canada/Northeast US:
Areas of residual light smoke are seen over the Gulf of St. Lawrence
and across parts of Newfoundland. This smoke likely originates  from
the wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. Additional aerosol seen off the
coast of the Northeast US and over far eastern Massachusetts could still
be residual smoke but there is also a possibility that the aerosol is
now mostly composed of sulfates.

BLOWING DUST:
A small area of blowing dust was observed in Arizona using visible
satellite imagery this evening. The dust originated on the western
border of Yavapai County and Maricopa country, and moved southwest
between 2200Z and sunset (0145Z). The dust reached the eastern portion
of Maricopa County.

Ramirez/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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.