DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0130Z September 10, 2017
SMOKE: Central United States/Southern Tier of Canadian Provinces... A large area of light density smoke covered almost much of the Pacific Northwest, the Northern Rockies, and the central United States between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. This plume also extended east across the Prairie Provinces, Hudson Bay, and into Quebec around a ridge over eastern Ontario. Medium density smoke blanketed much of the prairie Provinces, southern Hudson Bay, and northern portions of Quebec. Within the CONUS, medium density smoke also covered a good portion of Montana, the western Dakotas, and the central Plains. Heavy density smoke covered central Idaho, much of Montana, western South Dakota, and central Nebraska, as well as southeastern Alberta, much of Saskatchewan, and northern Manitoba in Canada. All of the smoke described above originates mainly from the wildfires burning in Idaho, Montana, and Saskatchewan. California... Light to medium density smoke was observed across northern California extending off the coast into the Pacific. The plume initially moved toward the northwest, but was then blown off to the south as the plume exited the northern California coast. The Pier wildfire in the southern Sierras is the source of this smoke. Northern British Columbia and the Northwest Territories... Wildfires scattered throughout northeastern British Columbia, far northwestern Alberta, and the southwestern Northwest Territories are contributing to a light to moderate smoke plume that covers the region in the vicinity of the wildfires, extending northward across much of the rest of the Northwest Territories. Due to cloud cover, there is a possibility that this plume may have merged with the dominant layer of smoke covering much of Canada and the central US. DUST: Dominican Republic to north of the Virgin Islands... Saharan dust was observed extending from northern portions of the Dominican Republic northeastward across the Atlantic north of Hurricane Jose and the Virgin Islands. This dust layer was seen drifting off to the north and west. 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