DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z July 20, 2017
SMOKE: US/Canadian Border/Pacific Northwest/Great Lakes... The persistent and intense burning complex of fires still active across southern British Columbia are still the major contributor to the tremendous extent of thin density smoke which covers much of the southern tier of Canada and the northern tier of the US. A portion of the smoke has also made its way around a cyclone off the British Columbia coast, which merges/overruns the main complex of fires. Embedded moderately dense smoke stretches from British Columbia to southern Manitoba and northern Montana. Thick smoke covers eastern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba. Fires over western Montana and northern Idaho, which are producing visible smoke plumes, may also be enhancing the smoke plume over far northern Montana. California/Intermountain West/Northern Plains... The Detwiler Fire in east central California continues to produce a significant amount of smoke, with moderately thick smoke extending to the northeast as far as southwestern Idaho. Thinner density smoke stretches all the way to northeast Montana and the Dakotas, where it merges with the smoke layer discussed above. Smoke from this fire also appeared to be affecting portions of the eastern San Joaquin Valley with patches of moderate to dense smoke closer to the vicinity of the fire. Alaska/Yukon/Northwest Territories/Nunavut/Central Canada ... Fires mainly across eastern Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories were responsible for a large thin to moderate density smoke layer over eastern Alaska, much of the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, northern portions Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and over Hudson Bay, where a cyclone has ingested the eastern edge of this smoke layer. DUST: Caribbean Sea/Middle Atlantic Ocean.... The significant layer of Saharan dust that has been visible for the past few days has spread a bit farther to the west and is now covering the eastern Bahamas, eastern Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, and much of the Caribbean Sea . A second Saharan dust layer is visible east of 55W and south of the Tropic of Cancer. -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