DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1957Z June 30, 2020
SMOKE:
North-Central Canada…
Multiple plumes of light-density smoke were observed moving primarily
westward from scattered wildfire activity throughout the southern
portion of the Northwestern Territories near the borders of Alberta
and Saskatchewan.
Florida…
Scattered fire activity throughout the Florida peninsula was observed
producing light density smoke plumes mixing with afternoon cloud cover
that obscured the visibility. Fire activity was also observed on the
panhandle to the south and southwest of Tallahassee in Apalachicola
National Forest and near St. Marks including the wildlife refuges in
the area. The fires were producing a large area of light-density smoke
moving to the east-southeast along the Apalachicola Bay shore. A plume
of medium to heavy-density smoke was also observed emitting from the
fire in Apalachicola National Forest.
Central Plains…
Scattered fire activity in Oklahoma and Kansas was producing light-density
smoke moving to the north-northeast.
Northern Mexico…
Scattered fire activity in the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua
was observed producing light-density smoke moving in varying directions.
Additional fire activity clustered along the Baja Peninsula near the city
of Mexicali, Mexico was also observed producing primarily light-density
smoke moving in varying directions.
Southwestern U.S…
The Big Horn and Wood Springs 2 fires currently burning in Arizona
continued to burn throughout the morning and early afternoon hours.
Clear, dry conditions with high winds caused smoke plumes of varying
density to travel quite far to the east. The Big Horn fire in the
southwestern region of Arizona was producing medium and light-density
smoke moving to the northeast and crossing into New Mexico. Meanwhile,
the Wood Springs fire in northeastern Arizona was producing medium to
heavy-density smoke that fanned throughout the morning before turning
to due-east with afternoon winds. High winds drove the light-density
plume through the state and across much of northern New Mexico.
Additionally, New Mexico also exhibited fire activity as the Vics Peak,
Good and Tadpole wildfires burned in the southwestern portion of the state
with primarily light-density smoke moving east of the fires and extending
into northern Texas. Throughout the Four Corners region and into northern
Texas, light remnant smoke was observed due to ongoing fire activity.
DUST:
Southwestern U.S…
Dust was observed blowing throughout the Four Corners region and in far
southwestern reaches of Nevada due to excessive winds associated with
an ongoing Red Flag Warning.
Southeastern U.S...
Saharan dust is still seen over southern Florida, extending eastward over
the Atlantic Ocean. An additional region of Saharan dust was observed
over southern Texas shoreline as it moved ashore from the Gulf of Mexico.
Caribbean Region/Yucatan Peninsula…
Another surge of Saharan dust continues to spread to the west and north,
covering
virtually all of the Caribbean Sea and its islands. The dust also now
has moved over portions of the Yucatan Peninsula and has covered
a majority of the Gulf of Mexico and Bay of Campeche including the
shoreline.
Levine
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