DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z July 19, 2021
SMOKE:
Alaska/Canada/CONUS...
Smoke of varying density attributed to a very significant number of
wildfires in the western U.S. and southwestern and central Canada was
seen covering virtually all of Canada with the exception of a portion of
Hudson Bay and far northeastern Canada though cloud cover in this area
likely hindered smoke detection in satellite imagery there. The smoke also
covered much of the northern half of the U.S. with thinner density smoke
extending to the south over the south central U.S. Relatively smoke free
areas were noted over the southwestern U.S. and from central/southern
Texas eastward to the Southeastern U.S. Within the larger mass of
smoke were sizable thicker areas of smoke which were visible over the
western and north central U.S. and across much of the southern portion
of Canada. Thicker smoke was also noted over north central Canad to
the west and northwest of Hudson Bay. Farther to the north and west,
wildfires in central and east central Alaska and far northwestern Canada
were responsible for a broad area of varying density smoke over portions
of Alaska and extending to the east across northwestern Canada. Thicker
areas of smoke were seen over central and east central Alaska and the
south central part of the Yukon.
DUST:
Eastern Caribbean...
The relatively thinner density leading portion of a large mass of Saharan
dust was visible this morning spreading slowly to the west over Puerto
Rico and nearly reaching Hispaniola. The dust stretched from there
eastward all the way to the west coast of Africa.
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