DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z October 21, 2020
SMOKE:
Southwestern CONUS…
Wildfire activity in the Sierra Nevada has resulted in a layer of smoke
that extends from central California into central Arizona. The main
smoke producing fire is again the Creek Fire. The northwestern front
of the fire was producing the thickest smoke, which erupted between 20Z
and 21Z and sent very thick smoke moving east and south-southwest.
Colorado/New Mexico…
The East Troublesome Fire in north-central Colorado was observed
emitting thick smoke. The smoke from this fire was moving off toward the
east, where cloud cover is obscuring the eastward extent of the smoke
plume. Further smoke may be present north of this fire, where fires have
been detected throughout the day, but cloud cover has been entrenched
over the area, preventing analysis of smoke there.
Another fire in northern New Mexico, the Luna Fire, was also producing
thick smoke. The smoke from this fire was observed as far east as the
eastern New Mexico border.
Southeastern CONUS…
Agricultural burning across the southeastern CONUS was observed emitting
mainly light smoke plumes. Smoke was mainly moving west along the Gulf
Coast, while smoke was moving northwest or north across the Mississippi
Valley and Ozarks.
BLOWING DUST:
Eastern Tropical Atlantic…
Saharan Dust was observed extending from the African Coast west to about
48W from about 5N to 25N. This layer of dust was moving westward.
Hosley
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