DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z July 21, 2016
SMOKE: Western US to North Central US: Areas of leftover mainly thin density smoke with a couple of smaller embedded patches of moderately dense smoke were visible spreading generally to the east and northeast from north central Nevada and south central Idaho eastward across the North Central US to at least as far east as the western Great Lakes region. The smoke is attributed to a number of wildfires burning over the western US especially ones over western Wyoming, southern Idaho, and west central Nevada. Southeastern Canada/Northeastern US: Leftover thin density smoke attributed to recent wildfire activity in western Canada was visible spreading to the south and east across far southeastern Canada, Maine, and offshore over the Atlantic. South Central Canada: An area of leftover thin density smoke was seen from eastern Saskatchewan to western Ontario which was believed to be from recent wildfire activity in western Canada. Cloudiness north and northwest of this region including over locations of the recent wildfires inhibited smoke detection from satellite imagery. Alaska: Significant cloudiness greatly inhibited smoke detection from recent wildfires in and around Alaska. DUST: Western Atlantic: Possible Saharan dust was seen over the western Atlantic spreading westward close to or over Puerto Rico. UNKNOWN AEROSOL: Great Lakes Region/Ohio Valley/Mississippi Valley: An aerosol composed of unknown pollutants was seen from portions of the Great Lakes Region southward over the Ohio Valley and Mississippi Valley. Some smoke may be mixed in with this aerosol though that is not a certainty. JS 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