DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z July 18, 2016
SMOKE: Labrador/Quebec: Multiple light to medium density smoke plumes were seen in northeastern Labrador and far northeastern Quebec. All of these smoke plumes were traveling towards the northeast. Alaska and Northwest/West/Central Canada/Northern Plains: Wildfires in southwest Alaska contributed to an east-west band of light to moderate density remnant smoke which has been stretched from west to east this afternoon. Light to moderate density smoke plumes could be seen emitting from wildfires in southwest Alaska this afternoon/evening and were traveling towards the east. Large amounts of wildfire activity located in North-Central and Central Alaska the past few days contributed to a large area of light to moderate density remnant smoke which combined with smoke emitted from wildfires in the Northwest Territories. This area of remnant smoke spanned from central Alaska east across Yukon, the Northwest Territories into northwestern Nunavut before becoming hidden beneath clouds making it hard to differentiate the full extent of this smoke. Only moderate to heavy density smoke plumes traveling towards the southeast could be seen in the Northwest Territories in-between cloud cover and the aforementioned residual smoke. An expansive ribbon of light to moderate density remnant smoke (likely originating primarily from numerous wildfires burning throughout the Northwest Territories) was seen extending east-southeast across northern/central British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, northeast North Dakota, southwest Ontario and Minnesota being depressed southward towards the Great Lakes region and Midwest by a frontal boundary. Colorado/Wyoming: A wildfire along the Colorado and Wyoming border was producing a light to heavy density smoke plume which was moving towards the east-northeast. The full extent of this smoke plume was difficult to determine due to cloud cover. Arizona: The Fuller fire near the Grand Canyon in north-central Arizona was producing a light to moderate density smoke plume which was traveling to the east-northeast. Remnant thin to moderately dense/dense smoke from this fire stretches from northeast Arizona and southeast Utah eastward to western Kansas/southwest Nebraska. DUST: Nevada: A small area of blowing sand/dust originating from the Carson Sink in west-central Nevada was advected towards east-northeast. Western Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Central Plains/Lower-Mid Mississippi River Valley: Saharan dust continues to be observed moving north and through the western and southern Gulf of Mexico with the greatest density over north Texas into the Central Plains and the Lower-Mid Mississippi River Valley. North Atlantic/Canadian Maritimes: Elevated dust likely originating from Africa can be seen over the North Atlantic lifting northeastward ahead of a frontal boundary just southeast of the Canadian Maritimes. Puerto Rico/Caribbean Sea: Another wave of Saharan dust could be seen moving west over Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Sea. -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