Tuesday, July 31, 2018

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z August 01, 2018.

NESDIS IS INVESTIGATING THE UTILITY OF THIS TEXT NARRATIVE.  IF YOU FIND
THIS PRODUCT VALUABLE, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL RESPONSE TO THE FOLLOWING
ADDRESS INDICATING HOW YOU AND/OR YOUR AGENCY USE THE INFORMATION.
THANK YOU.  SEND EMAIL RESPONSES TO: SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov.

SMOKE:
Alaska...
Wildfires in central and eastern Alaska were observed emitting
moderate-density smoke dispersing towards the east and into Yukon
territory.

Canada...
Wildfires were seen occurring predominantly across central-southern Yukon
territory and British Columbia (except northeast sector) contributing
moderate-density smoke covering much of the region with a general
southeast trajectory. Higher level smoke linked to those  wildfires
could be seen traveling towards the southeast and across the US border
extending over Montana, the Dakotas and across Minnesota, and back
towards the northeast and into Ontario.

Western US...
Widespread fire activity continues across northern California and
southwest Oregon producing large plumes and leading to high concentrations
of smoke from the ground up. The smoke aloft is spreading towards the
northeast-east following the 500mb atmospheric flow which results in a
large semi-circular plume of light-to-moderate density covering much of
the western states, with additional smoke injection being seen across
the Utah-Colorado state border where numerous additional wildfires
are burning.

Mexico...
Numerous small/short-duration seasonal fires could be seen releasing
predominantly light-density smoke along coastal areas north of Veracruz.

WS


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/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg
GIS:    ftp://satpsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/FIRE/HMS/GIS/
KML:    http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/fire.kml (fire)
        http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/smoke.kml (smoke)

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.