Tuesday, August 23, 2016

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z August 24, 2016

SMOKE:
North-Central Canada/Northwest Territories:
Remnant light density smoke was moving north and east this
afternoon/evening in north-central Canada. This smoke is most likely
wildfires burning across Canada and the the northern Rockies.  Multiple
light to heavy density smoke plumes were seen primarily moving eastward
between Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories.

California/Arizona/Nevada:
An area of slow moving light density remnant smoke was observed stretching
along a weak frontal boundary across the area. This smoke is most
likely from wildfires burning in California with some smoke possible
from fires in the Pacific Northwest dropping south and east behind the
frontal boundary. Clouds obscure the full extent of this area of smoke
into the rest of the four corner states. Several wildfires were seen
in southern California along the southwestern coast and the southern
Sierra Nevadas. Light to heavy density smoke plumes associated with
these wildfires were seen fanning to the south.

Pacific Northwest/Northern Rockies/High Plains/Great Lakes:
An area of light density remnant smoke with an embedded area of moderate
density smoke was seen streaming across the northern Rockies eastward
to the Great Lakes region. This remnant smoke is from a combination of
wildfires burning across several states in the Western US. Numerous light
to heavy density smoke plumes were seen in the Pacific Northwest and the
Northern Rockies. Smoke plumes over the Northern Rockies were traveling
eastward while smoke plumes in the Pacific Northwest were seen fanning
to the south and east.

-Cronin


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.