DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0430Z September 13, 2017
SMOKE: Northwestern US/Central US/Northeastern US/Southwestern to South Central Canada/Eastern Canada/Offshore of Eastern Canada and the Eastern US... A huge mass of thin density smoke was once again visible covering much of the northern US from the Pacific Northwest to the Northeast and much of southern Canada from southern British Columbia to Quebec where it fanned out covering virtually all of Quebec and Labrador extending well off the coast south of Greenland. The smoke also spread southward around the peripheral weakening circulation of former hurricane Irma from the Northern Plains to the Southern Plains, northern Mexico, and over the western Gulf of Mexico. The smoke also moved to the east and southeast and offshore of the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic region wrapping around a low pressure located south of Newfoundland. Moderately dense to thicker smoke was visible stretching from the wildfires over central and northern Idaho, and western Montana eastward over Montana and the Dakotas to the western Great Lakes region. From there a narrowing band of moderately dense smoke extended southward over the Central Plains to western Oklahoma. Moderately dense to thick smoke also covered southern Canada from southern Alberta eastward to central Ontario. The primary source for all of the smoke affecting the US and Canada is the ongoing wildfire activity over portions of Washington, Oregon, northern California, central and northern Idaho, western Montana, far southern and southeastern British Columbia, and central Canada. DUST: Central Atlantic... The Saharan dust which was present north and northeast of the Windward Islands and to the east of Hurricane Jose could not be seen very well this evening due to cloudiness in the region. Westbrook 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