Thursday, July 04, 2019

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0045 July 05, 2019

SMOKE:
Alaska/Northwestern Canada...
Several wildfires remain active in eastern Alaska and western Yukon
province. Moderate-to-heavy density smoke could be observed near those
fires with general transport towards the east. Widespread cloud coverage
prevented delineation of smoke plumes across much of the region.  Heavy
smoke from the Swan Lake fire in the Kenai Peninsula is shifting direction
impacting areas northeast (Anchorage) and east-southeast (Sterling).

Central and Southeastern Canada/Northeastern U.S...
Scattered fire activity across central-northern Alberta, central-southern
Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and western Ontario were contributing to a
large area of light-density smoke stretching from central Alberta to
northern Ontario. Fires in western Ontario gained intensity during the
afternoon hours releasing heavy smoke towards the east impacting much of
central-northern Ontario. Another area consisting of light-to-moderate
density smoke originating from previous days fire emissions in central
Canada could also be seen covering much of northeastern U.S. extending
northeasterly over southern Greenland and southeasterly for approximately
1,000 miles over the Atlantic ocean.

Northwestern U.S...
Light density residual smoke likely linked to wildfires in Alaskan and
northwestern Canada could be seen covering central-eastern Washington. A
few scattered fires were contributing additional smoke to that regional
plume, spreading towards the northeast towards northern Idaho.

Arizona/New Mexico...
Wildfires in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico were emitting
moderate-to-heavy density smoke spreading towards to northeast. The
Whiting Knoll fire was particularly active releasing a heavy smoke plume
extending over St. Johns and across the New Mexico border.

DUST:
Western Gulf of Mexico...
Saharan dust was visible covering the western Gulf of Mexico reaching
the southern Texas coastline.

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.