DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z July 24, 2019
SMOKE:
Alaska/Canada/Northwestern U.S./Central and Eastern U.S...
Numerous wildfires continued to burn this morning scattered across Alaska,
Northwestern, and North Central Canada. An extremely large mass of smoke
of varying density from these fires was visible this morning covering
virtually all of Alaska and far western and northwestern Canada, central
Canada, and southeastern Canada. Only the southern half of Alberta and
Saskatchewan was relatively smoke free. The somewhat thinner density
smoke had also spread to the southeast and was present over a broad
region stretching from the eastern portion of the Northern and Central
Plains eastward to the central and southern Appalachians and the interior
of the Northeast. Thinner density smoke from the fires in Alaska and
Northwestern Canada was seen over the Gulf of Alaska and off the Pacific
Northwest with some of the thin density smoke also moving back inland over
the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. The most significant smoke
of moderate to thick density was noted in a west to east oriented band
extending from western and northwestern Alaska eastward to the Yukon and
Northwest Territories and southeastward from there over northern Alberta,
northern Saskatchewan, northern Manitoba, southern Nunavut, and western
and central Ontario. The smoke gradually thinned out slightly to moderate
density in a narrow zone stretching from Lake Superior southward over
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and into northern Illinois.
Idaho/Wyoming/Montana...Mainly thin density smoke with some localized
moderate density smoke could be seen closer to a couple of wildfire
complexes burning in southern Idaho this morning.
Saharan Dust:
The Saharan dust layer was vsible spreading slowly to the west over the
Eastern Caribbean Sea, Puerto Rico, the USVI, and Hispaniola.
JS
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