DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1730Z August 13, 2020
SMOKE:
Western Colorado into the Central and Northern Plains and Western Great
Lakes Region...
The Pine Gulch and the Grizzly Creek fire complexes in Garfield County,
Colorado were observed emitting moderate to heavy density smoke this
morning which was moving generally to the east and northeast in western
Colorado. A large shield of smoke from these fires was visible covering
much of the Northern and Central Plains and the western Great Lakes
Region which is likely merging with smoke from the Bear Creek Fire
in southwestern Montana and the Red Salmon Fire complex in northern
California. Thicker density smoke from the Pine Gulch and Grizzly Creek
fires spread out over eastern Colorado and western Kansas and farther
to the east and northeast across the Central and North-Central Plains.
Area from Northern California to the Northern Plains...
Areas of moderate to thick density smoke were visible this morning
near the Red Salmon fire Complex in Humboldt County of Northwestern
California. Thinner density smoke from this fire spread to the east and
northeast over southern Oregon, southern Idaho, northern Nevada, southern
Montana, northern Wyoming, and out over the Dakotas before merging with
smoke from the western Colorado wildfires and the Bear Creek Fire in
southwestern Montana which all continue to be active this morning.
Southwestern U.S…
The Lake Fire in southern California was active this morning with smoke
extending to the northeast across southern Nevada, northern Arizona,
southern Utah, and southwestern Colorado. A leftover patch of embedded
thicker smoke was seen over southern Nevada and southwestern Utah.
Southern Texas and Northern Mexico…
A detached stripe of thin density smoke likely primarily from the
western Colorado wildfires was seen moving to the south over southern
and southwestern Texas and northern Mexico.
South Central and Southeastern Canada/North Central and Northeastern
U.S...
Light to moderate density smoke was observed over a good portion of South
Central and Southeastern Canada from Manitoba across Ontario and over
southern Quebec and portions of the Canadian Maritime. The relatively
thinner density smoke also appeared to graze the North Central U.S. from
Minnesota to the northern part of the Great Lakes Region and northern
New England. The smoke was likely due to a combination of wildfires in
Siberia and in central Ontario. A stripe of thicker smoke was noted over
central Ontario closer to the wildfires there.
Alaska...
Light to perhaps moderate density smoke originating from Siberian
wildfires could be seen over much Alaska with the exception of
southeastern Alaska. The smoke also was visible over portions of the
Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Gulf of Alaska in satellite imagery.
Western Canada…
A curved band of thin density smoke likely from the wildfires in
Siberia was visible over the southern part of the Northwest Territories,
northeastern British Columbia, central Alberta, and western and northern
Saskatchewan. The smoke was wrapping around a large low pressure system
in that region.
Northeastern Canada...
A band of thin density smoke which is likely from the wildfires in
Siberia could be seen over northeastern Quebec and extending to the
northeast offshore over the Labrador Sea and across southern Greenland.
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