Monday, August 8, 2016

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0400Z August 9, 2016

SMOKE:
Northeastern US:
A narrow swath of remnant light density smoke continued to move east
and southeast away from Nova Scotia and New England. This smoke was most
likely from wildfires burning in portions of the western US though fires
in northwest Canada and Siberia may be origins for this smoke. Another
small patch of smoke was analyzed moving east across southeast Quebec. A
wildfire burning in southern Nova Scotia was also producing a smoke
plume this evening that extended out over the Atlantic Ocean.

Western and Northern US/Southern Canada:
Remnant smoke was seen moving east across the northern tier of the
United States and southern Canada stretching continuously from the
Pacific Northwest to western Ontario with additional thin smoke near
James Bay. Much of this smoke is likely from wildfires burning across
the Western US though some of the smoke seen over Washington, Oregon, and
southern British Columbia could be from Siberian wildfires. In addition,
several areas of wildfires burning across the western US this evening
were producing fresh areas of moderately dense to dense smoke.

Northern and Central Canada:
An extensive area of light density smoke stretches from northwestern
Canada southeastward across portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba,
and Ontario, as well as southern Hudson Bay, where it meets other remnant
smoke that is primarily from US fires. Several large wildfires that have
flared up again predominantly in the Northwest Territories are largely
responsible for this smoke and had produced moderately dense to dense
smoke this evening that was traveling to the northwest.

DUST:
Caribbean:
A large area of Saharan Dust was seen in satellite imagery moving across
the Atlantic near/approaching the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico.

Northeast US/Nova Scotia:
As remnant smoke pushed further off the coast of New England and the
Canadian Maritimes, a different aerosol could be seen coming off the
coast of New England and Nova Scotia. The aerosol appeared to extend
over portions of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and northeast New York
along a frontal boundary before mixing with remnant smoke over southeast
Ontario/southwest Quebec. This is thought to be remnant dust based on
aerosol models though the origin is unclear.

Gulf of Alaska:
A significant amount of Asian dust can be seen moving east across the
Gulf of Alaska. It is possible there is also smoke from Siberian wildfires
mixed in with the dust.

UNKNOWN AEROSOL:
Northwest Gulf of Mexico to Lake Michigan:
Several areas of haziness due to unknown aerosol can be seen over the
northwestern Gulf and the Gulf Coast as well as over portions of the
mid-upper Mississippi River Valley and Lake Michigan.

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

 


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.