DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z July 18, 2016
SMOKE: Labrador Sea: Mostly light to a small area of medium density smoke was seen moving north and east across the Labrador Sea and into the North Atlantic. The source of the smoke are from wildfires burning across northeastern Labrador and far northeastern Quebec during the last few days. Alaska and Northwest/West/Central Canada/Northern Plains/Upper Mississippi Valley/Great Lakes: Wildfires burning in southwest Alaska and the Territories over the last few days are contributing to the large area of smoke seen spreading across western/central Canada and into the northern Plains, Upper Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes region. Moderately dense to dense smoke is seen over the southern Territories, northern Alberta, northern/central Saskatchewan and into western/central Manitoba. Another area of moderately dense to dense smoke pocket is seen over eastern Minnesota, northern/central Wisconsin and into western Michigan. The smoke is seen as far west as the Gulf of Alaska, northern British Columbia, over most of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, western Quebec. In the US, eastern Montana and Wyoming, south into South Dakota and as far east as eastern Michigan. The wildfires burning in Alaska are currently producing light to moderately dense smoke toward the south. Dust: Puerto Rico/Caribbean Sea: Another wave of Saharan dust could be seen moving west over Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Sea. -J Kibler 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