Sunday, May 15, 2016

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1730Z May 15, 2016

SMOKE:
Northwest/Central Canada into North Central US/Great Lakes/Ohio Valley:
An extensive area of smoke stretches from the Yukon Territory and
Northwest Territories southeast through Central Canada across the Northern
Plains, Midwest, western Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley. A portion of this
smoke also wrapped north along the western edge of Hudson Bay. Within
this area of smoke a large area of moderate to very dense smoke covered
east/southeast Alberta, southern Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba
extending further south across the Dakotas. Much of this smoke is from
the ongoing wildfires near Fort McMurray, Alberta.   Moderately dense
to dense smoke was also seen over northeast British Columbia and far
northwest Alberta coming from fires in northeast B.C.

Northeast US Coast/Nova Scotia:
Thin remnant smoke can be seen along the back edge of a frontal boundary
and beneath the upper low that is moving off the coast of the Northeast
US. This smoke is believed to be from the wildfires near Fort McMurray,
Alberta.

Alaska:
An area of thin smoke was observed over north and northwest Alaska with
another small patch of smoke seen along the southern Alaska coast. The
source of this smoke appears to be wildfire activity in Siberia.
Additional smoke may be wrapped up in the approaching upper low over
the Pacific.

Western Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche:
An area of thin to moderately dense smoke is present in the Bay of
Campeche stretching northwest to far southern Texas. Fires in Mexico
are the source of this smoke. Some remnant smoke may also be present in
the aerosol seen over central/eastern portions of the Gulf and across
Florida/northern Bahamas.

DUST:
Florida/Southeast US:
Aerosol seen across Florida and off the Southeast US coast is thought
to be a mix of elevated dust and possibly some smoke from fires in Mexico.

Gulf of Alaska:
In addition to previously mentioned patch of thin smoke near the southern
Alaska coastline, a general hazy look in the Gulf of Alaska and down
the southeast coast of the state is attributed to Asian dust.

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.