DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z July 7, 2020
SMOKE:
California…
A fire along the northern edge of the Hollister Valley in central
California was responsible for a broad area of thin density smoke which
spread to the south reaching the area just north of Santa Barbara
just prior to sunset. Farther to the north, smoke plumes of varying
density were also observed with fires to the east and southeast of the
San Francisco Bay region with most of the smoke moving generally to the
east and southeast.
Washington…
A large fire broke out just north of the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife
Refuge in south central Washington resulting in a plume of moderate to
thick density smoke which moved off to the north and northeast.
Central Canada…
A stripe of thin density leftover smoke which may be attributed to the
ongoing wildfire activity in Siberia was visible stretching from eastern
Alberta to central Manitoba.
UNKNOWN AEROSOL:
Midwest/Central Plains…
An aerosol of unknown origin and composition was observed from the Central
Plains eastward over the Great Lakes region and the Ohio Valley. There
is some possibility that at least some of this aerosol may be composed
of leftover smoke from the fires in the Southwestern U.S. and possibly
Saharan dust though that cannot be confirmed from satellite imagery.
BLOWING DUST:
Northwestern Nevada…
An area of thin to moderate density blowing dust originated from a dry
lake bed in northwestern Nevada and from the Carson Sink located a bit
more to the south. Both areas of dust moved to the northeast during the
afternoon/early evening.
Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Central America/Caribbean Sea/Tropical and Eastern
Atlantic…
A rather thin mass of Saharan dust was seen stretching from the western
Caribbean over a portion of Central America, the Yucatan Peninsula, and
much of the Gulf of Mexico with the leading edge approaching southeastern
Texas. Another surge of Saharan dust continues to emerge from North Africa
extending eastward across the Atlantic and over the Leeward Islands,
Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola. This leading edge continues to move westward.
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