DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z July 5, 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. Numerous wildfires were seen in between cloud cover emitting light to heavy density smoke to the west-northwest in northern Saskatchewan and southeastern portions of the Northwest Territories. Wildfires in northern Manitoba were producing light to moderate density smoke to the west and west-southwest. Nebraska/Kansas/Northeast Colorado/Southern Wyoming: An area of light to moderate density remnant smoke has moved from northern Utah eastward today crossing southern Wyoming, northeast Colorado into western Nebraska and north-central Kansas. 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. The western extent of this area of smoke was obscured by clouds. California: The fire named Pine in southern California was fanning light to moderate density smoke to the southwest and north while the Trailhead fire in the Sierra foothills continues to emit a light to moderate density smoke plume to the northeast into western Nevada. 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 the Yucatan Peninsula. The dust extends north across Hispanola and eastern Cuba over much of the Bahamas and into part of the western Atlantic. 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 diffuse Saharan 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. Nevada: A small area of blowing dust/sand originating from the Carson sink was seen in west-central Nevada moving east-southeast from the source region. 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. -Sheffler/Cronin 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