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