DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1415Z September 14, 2017
SMOKE: Pacific Northwest/Central CONUS/Southern Canada/Northeastern Mexico/North Atlantic... An expansive area of thin density smoke was observed extending from Oregon and Washington eastward across North America towards the Canadian Maritimes and into the Atlantic Ocean. This area also extends from the Upper Midwest south into Texas and northeastern Mexico. Moderate density smoke was observed extending from Montana eastward within the area of light density smoke across North America. Another area of moderate density smoke was seen over Iowa, northern Missouri, and eastern Kansas. Heavily dense smoke was observed over portions of the Great Lakes. This area of smoke is likely produced by wildfire activity throughout northern California, the Pacific Northwest, and southern British Columbia. Cloud cover obscures portions of the smoke plume over the western CONUS, but smoke closer to the edges and in small breaks within the cloud cover allow for the analysis of smoke in the area. Great Lakes/Northeastern CONUS/Central Atlantic... A layer of light density remnant smoke was readily visible across the eastern Great Lakes and northeastern CONUS and extending eastward across the Atlantic, including Bermuda and to the east of Tropical Storm Jose. The parent wildfires are likely those in Western North America. Some of the smoke that existed to the east of Tropical Storm Jose may also be obscured by or obscuring Saharan dust. DUST: Atlantic Ocean... Saharan dust may have been observed over the central Atlantic to the east of Tropical Storm Jose. As mentioned previously, some of this apparent dust layer may also be smoke that is encroaching on the region. Northern Gulf of California... Blowing dust was observed across northern Baja California and the Colorado River Delta. This dust may also be extending as far north as Yuma, Arizona, as observations at KNYL have shown elevated wind gusts, visibility falling to between 6 and 7 miles, and dust or haze being reported. 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