DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z December 15, 2017
***CORRECTED TO ADD REMNANT SMOKE OVER THE CANADIAN MARITIMES/NORTH ATLANTIC*** SMOKE: Southern California/Far Southwest Oregon/Pacific Ocean/Northern Baja California... The wildfires in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties were continuing to emit large quantities of smoke. The smoke plume spans from the southwesternmost portions of Oregon to south of the southern tip of Baja California. A region of moderate smoke over 1000 miles to the west of Cabo San Lucas is the result of convergence due to a westward moving cyclonic feature. The leading edge of the plume on the south-southwestern side of the plume also shows some moderate density smoke. This feature lies just offshore of Baja California Sur. Closer to the wildfires, moderate to thick density smoke extends to the west-southwest over 100 miles, over the northern Channel Islands and to the west of the southern Channel Islands. Most of the smoke in the plume is moving to the west, with a few portions moving more toward the south. Northern Texas... A thin layer of remnant smoke was visible over northern Texas this afternoon. This layer likely originated from the Legion Lake Fire in the Black Hills of South Dakota...however, it is also possible that this could be smoke that has taken a few days to round the ridge over the west coast from one of the wildfires in southern California. This layer of smoke was moving due south. Maritime Provinces/North Atlantic... Remnant smoke was observed entrained within a cyclone and frontal system over Newfoundland. The source of this smoke could be either the complex of fires present in southern California from a few days past or the Legion Lake Fire. DUST: Mojave Desert/Gulf of California... A large region of blowing dust was observed in satellite imagery spreading over southeastern California, southwestern Arizona, far northwestern Mexico, and the northern Gulf of California. There were a few individual sources, including the Cadiz Dunes, the Imperial Desert about 20 miles southwest of the Salton Sea, an area between Interstates 8 and 10 on the border of Yuma and Maricopa Counties,and Laguna Salada, which is just south of Mexicali, Mexico. The dust was seen being blown to the south and southwest. 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