DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z July 31, 2017
SMOKE: Northwestern US across the North Central US and into the Northeast/Mid Atlantic Canada - Central British Columbia to Quebec: A very large area of thin density smoke covers the US from central California north into Oregon/NW Nevada/Idaho/Montana/Wyoming across the North Central US to the Northeast with very thin density smoke also stretching southward over Ohio and into the Mid-Atlantic region. Currently, dense to very dense smoke continues to spread and extends across central/northern California, into southern/central Oregon/Idaho and western Montana. A slither of moderately dense smoke is seen over central Montana. Across Canada, the huge mass of thin density smoke is present and extends from British Columbia and the southern portion of the Northwest Territories eastward over Hudson Bay and a portion of Quebec. Very dense smoke is seen across southern/central British Columbia and spreads across a large section of Alberta/Saskatchewan. Moderately dense to dense smoke further extends across central Saskatchewan, Manitoba and into central/southern Ontario. The source for this thicker region of smoke is primarily the wildfires burning in southern and southeastern British Columbia. Alaska/Far Northwestern Canada... Several wildfires in eastern Alaska are responsible for a smoke area of varying density which covers eastern and northeastern Alaska as well as a portion of the nearby Yukon province in northwestern Canada. The smoke also likely extends northward over the Arctic Ocean though cloudiness and the limit of the satellite field of view inhibits smoke detection there. J Kibler/JS 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