Saturday, September 9, 2017

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.