DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z July 22, 2016
SMOKE: Western US to North Central US: Areas remnant thin density smoke with embedded patches of moderately dense smoke remained visible spreading generally to the east and northeast from southeast Idaho/western Wyoming eastward across the North Central US to at least as far east as Wisconsin. The smoke is attributed to a number of wildfires burning over the western US especially those over western Wyoming, southern Idaho, and central Nevada. Many of these same fires continued to produce fresh plumes of moderately dense to dense smoke this evening. Gulf of Mexico: A small patch of thin remnant smoke likely from fires in the Southeast US yesterday was moving west over the western Gulf. Southwest US/Northern Baja California: An area of thin smoke covers the US/Mexico border separating California and Baja California with remnant smoke drifting over far southwest Arizona. Much of this smoke is from a large wildfire in northern Baja though Mexican agricultural burning also contributed some smoke. Southeastern Canada/Northeastern US: Leftover thin to moderately dense smoke attributed to recent wildfire activity in western Canada and Alaska continued to be visible spreading to the south and east across far southeastern Canada, the coast of the Northeast US, and offshore over the North Atlantic. Some areas of thin smoke were also present near Newfoundland and over eastern Quebec/Labrador. South Central/Central Canada: Pockets of remnant thin smoke are seen this evening from eastern Alberta/Saskatchewan eastward across southern Canada and over Ontario. Additional pockets of thin to moderately dense smoke exists over and just east of Hudson Bay. This smoke is 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 through a good deal of the region. DUST: Oregon: Blowing dust could be seen spreading northeastward across central Oregon this evening originating from the vicinity of Summer Lake in the southern part of the state. The dust was visible from about 22Z through 03Z before the loss of daylight. Southeast US Coast: Aerosol present along the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia, and northern Florida is believed to be elevated dust, likely of an African origin. Western Atlantic/Caribbean: Saharan dust was seen over the western Atlantic spreading westward across the Leeward Islands, the eastern Caribbean, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. UNKNOWN AEROSOL: Great Lakes Region/Ohio Valley/Mississippi Valley/Southern Plains: An aerosol composed of unknown pollutants was seen from portions of the Great Lakes Region southward over the Ohio Valley and Mississippi Valley extending as far southwest as southern Texas. Some smoke and dust may be mixed in with this aerosol though that is not a certainty. 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