DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1730Z August 17, 2017
SMOKE: Much of Canada... The ongoing wildfires occurring over the northern parts of Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba, central British Columbia, and especially southern Northwest Territories continue to be responsible for an extensive area of light to medium density smoke ranging from the Yukon and British Columbia eastward to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. Heavy density smoke was seen extending eastward from the wildfires in central British Columbia and another area was seen extending southeastward from the wildfires in northern Alberta and southeastern Northwest Territories. A separate area of moderate to heavy density smoke was seen extending from the Hudson Bay southeastward to Nova Scotia/Newfoundland and Labrador and beginning to wrap into an upper-level low over the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Continental United States... Northern New England... The ongoing wildfire occurring over the northern parts of Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba, central British Columbia, and especially the southern portion of the Northwest Territories continues to be responsible for an area of light density smoke which ranges from southern New York to Maine. Medium density smoke was seen in this area from the previously mentioned wildfires in Canada was seen from central Vermont/New Hampshire to Maine. Heavy density smoke was was seen over Maine. California and Southwest Oregon... Wildfire activity mainly in northern California and southern/central Oregon along with a couple in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of eastern California resulted in a region of thin density smoke which was visible over southeastern Oregon, northwestern Nevada and parts of central California. Patches of medium density smoke were seen closer to the actual wildfires. An area of medium to heavy density smoke was seen extending from a wildfire in northwestern California moving to the south/southwest and offshore of the Golden State. DUST: Gulf of Mexico... The relatively small area of Saharan dust which was mentioned in yesterday evening's text product over the Bay of Campeche has lifted to the north over the west central Gulf of Mexico though it is barely discernible in satellite imagery. Caribbean/Hispaniola/Puerto Rico... The leading portion of a large area of Saharan dust could be seen spreading to the west over the Caribbean, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Windward and Leeward Islands, and farther to the east over the open Atlantic. Whisnant 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