DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z December 13, 2017
SMOKE: California/Pacific Northwest/Near-coastal Pacific Waters... The Thomas fire in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties was seen continuing to produce thick smoke this afternoon. The thick smoke extends out into the Pacific Ocean over Vandenberg AFB and Point Conception to west of Santa Maria. A change in wind direction offshore has resulted in a thick remnant smoke area across northwestern California south-southwestward to the coordinates (36N, 126W). Moderate density smoke extends from Oregon to around (30N, 125W) and surrounds the thick region associated with the attached smoke plume. Thin density smoke has made it as far as extreme western Montana. Far Northwestern Baja California... Ongoing fire activity just south of Tijuana has been producing moderate to thick density smoke. The associated smoke plumes are moving out over the Pacific Ocean, but have not yet merged with the large smoke plume from the wildfire activity in southern California. Northern Arizona... Burning in Kaibab National Forest has resulted in the emission of a light density smoke plume. The smoke was seen moving off to the west-southwest over the Hualapai Indian Reservation. Black Hills/Sandhills... The Legion Lake Fire in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota was observed emitting smoke throughout the afternoon. The smoke from this wildfire had extended to the southeast over the Sandhills region of western Nebraska. Gulf Coast/Southeast... Numerous fires from eastern Texas to the Florida panhandle and eastern Georgia were observed emitting smoke this afternoon. Much of the smoke was light, but a couple were seen emitting some moderate density smoke. These smoke plumes were moving from their parent fires off to either the south or southeast behind a frontal passage. 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