DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z July 19, 2017
SMOKE: US Canadian Border/Mississippi River Valley/Red River Valley... The complex of fires burning across southern British Columbia are still the major contributor to the expansive thin density smoke plume extending across North America into Quebec. Much of this smoke is advecting to the east on a moderately strong mid-level jet. A middle to upper level anticyclone centered over Kansas is then wrapping some of this smoke around its southern periphery over Arkansas and southern Oklahoma. Alaska/Yukon/Northwest Territories... Fires across Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories are contributing to a thin smoke layer over eastern Alaska, much of the Yukon, the western Northwest Territories, and northwestern British Columbia. A few small areas of moderate smoke are seen emanating from fires over the Northwest Territories. California... The Detwiler Fire has been producing a smoke plume of varying density over the last three days. This smoke has filtered over the Sierras into areas surrounding Lake Tahoe, Reno, and Carson City, creating a layer of thick smoke in the area. Smoke is also accumulating against the eastern rim of the San Joaquin Valley, most dense in the proximity of the fire. A thin layer of smoke from the Detwiler Fire has also moved over other portions of northern Nevada and southern Idaho. DUST: Caribbean Sea/Middle Atlantic Ocean.... The thick Saharan dust layer that has been visible for the past few days is now covering the eastern half of the Caribbean Sea north of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. This dust layer also extends north to about 25N and eastward to about 55W. -Hosley 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