DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z August 21, 2015

SMOKE:
Western/Central US and Canada:
A large area of light to heavy density of smoke is visible extending
across the country this morning, originating from the wildfires currently
burning in British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and
California. The heaviest area of smoke is located in in North and South
Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, moving eastward. Medium density
smoke is visible extending eastward from California to Wisconsin, with
a separate plume moving into Nevada and Arizona from the “Rough”
wildfire complex located in Fresno County, California. Light to medium
density smoke is visible detaching and  moving east off into Alberta,
southern Manitoba and Ontario. Due to the visual limitations of GOES-W,
it is difficult to determine the extent of the smoke moving east, but the
plume is making its way east beyond Indiana and as far south as Arkansas.

Eastern US/Canada:
A few detached plumes of remnant smoke is visible moving NE off of Quebec
and Nunavut (NW Passages). A separate plume in the Atlantic Ocean to the
south is visible moving west towards Nova Scotia. This smoke is remnant
and originates from the numerous wildfires that have been burning in
the western US and SW Canada.


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

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.