DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1815Z July 4, 2016
SMOKE: Northwestern to South Central Canada: An extensive area of light density remnant smoke from fires in the Northwest Territories, northern Saskatchewan, northern Alberta, and northern Manitoba extends southeastward from northwest Nunavut to southeast Ontario/southwest Quebec. Moderately dense to dense smoke is especially prevalent over the Northwest Territories directly north of the bulk of the fire activity. North Utah/Northwest Colorado/South Wyoming: An area of moderately dense to dense smoke has moved from northern Utah eastward today crossing southern Wyoming and northwest Colorado. This remnant smoke is primarily from the Hot Pot brush fire in west-central Elko county Nevada. However, two smoke producing fires in the Sierra Nevada yesterday may have also contributed to this area of smoke. North Dakota/Northwest Minnesota/Southern Manitoba: An area of thin remnant smoke observed over eastern North Dakota, northwest Minnesota, and southern Manitoba is likely from the brush fire in Nevada. Alaska: Remnant smoke is seen from the northern coast of the Alaska stretching northeast across the Arctic waters and ice. In addition a small patch of thin smoke is observed off the west coast of Alaska between areas of cloud cover. All of this smoke is primarily believed to be from Siberian wildfires. DUST: Eastern Caribbean/Bahamas/South Florida/Southeast Gulf of Mexico/Western Atlantic: An expansive area of optically thick Saharan dust can be seen pushing westward across almost the entire Caribbean Sea from the Leeward Islands to just east of the Yucatan Peninsula. The dust extends north across Hispanola and eastern Cuba over much of the Bahamas and into part of the western Atlantic. Saharan dust can also be seen spreading west across southern Florida and the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Western and Northern Gulf of Mexico/Southern Plains/Lower Mississippi River Valley/Southeast US: A broad area of aerosol that is believed to be mostly African dust is present across the western and northern portions of the Gulf of Mexico extending inland across central Texas/far southern Oklahoma, the Lower Mississippi River Valley, and much of the Southeast US disappearing beneath cloud cover over North Carolina. Other aerosols including a small amount of remnant smoke may be mixed with the elevated dust. Remnant smoke coming from Mexican oil rigs in the Bay of Campeche could be seen over the western Gulf as well. Central Nunavut: A swath of aerosol thought to be elevated dust is seen moving west along the northwestern shore of Hudson Bay becoming mixed with the extensive area of remnant smoke over northwest Canada. The origin of the dust is not known. UNKNOWN AEROSOL: Northeast US/Canadian Maritimes: A faint aerosol is seen moving off the coast of the Northeastern US states and across Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. While the composition of the aerosol can not be fully determined, it seems plausible that this could be remnant smoke from the wildfires in Canada, possibly mixed with other unknown aerosols. Great Lakes Region: An area of aerosol is observed moving northward across far northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, Wisconsin, Lake Michigan, Michigan, and Lake Superior towards southern Ontario. There is a possibility that this aerosol is dust although it is uncertain if this is the case given the wide array of aerosols and sources across the United States today. 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