Friday, July 22, 2016

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1530Z July 22, 2016

SMOKE:
North Central US:
An area of mainly thin density smoke was visible stretching from eastern
Wyoming and eastern Montana across the Dakotas and Minnesota to Wisconsin
and northern Iowa. Within this area, a patch of moderately dense smoke was
analyzed over northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. The source
of this smoke is likely mainly attributed to fires in north central and
west central Wyoming and southwestern Idaho.

Southern California/Baja:
A swath of primarily thin density smoke extended from far northern Baja
and extreme southwestern California to the southwest and offshore over
the Pacific. This smoke was believed to be from a fire in northern Baja.

Western to South Central Canada:
Areas of thin density remnant smoke were visible over central Alberta and
in an elongated patch stretching from central Manitoba to southwestern
Quebec. This smoke was believed to be mainly from recent wildfire activity
in western Canada.

Newfoundland/Labrador/Western Atlantic:
Leftover thin density smoke attributed to recent wildfire activity in
western Canada extended from eastern Labrador across Newfoundland and
southward over the Atlantic.

DUST:
Western Atlantic/Caribbean:
An aerosol which is possibly composed of Saharan dust was seen over the
western Atlantic spreading westward across a portion of the 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. Some smoke and dust 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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.