DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0130Z August 4, 2021
SMOKE:
North America…
An expansive area of varying density smoke was observed blanketing much of
North America, from the Beaufort Sea and Alaska to the Pacific Northwest,
Canada, the Great Lakes, the southeastern CONUS, and the northwestern
Atlantic ocean. One area of smoke extends from the Beaufort Sea north
of the Yukon toward the southeast across the Northwest Territory and
Nunavut into northern Hudson Bay and into a cyclone in the eastern
Canadian Archipelago. This area of smoke is likely cross-polar transport
of smoke from wildfires throughout Russia. Another, larger expanse
of smoke extends from wildfire activity in northern California (where
PyroCBs are observed from the Dixie, Monument, McFarland, and Antelope
fires) to out over the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West. Then
the persistent wildfire activity in southern British Columbia adds
further smoke to the layer, which then extends north into Alberta and
then east across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where some is being drawn
toward the cyclone over the Canadian Archipelago ahead of the associated
front. Wildfire activity across northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba is
also contributing to this portion of the layer. Wildfire activity across
the rest of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as activity across western
Ontario is then adding to the smoke moving over from BC and Alberta, from
where the smoke layer moves south and southeast across the Great Plains,
where the layer bifurcates into a thicker band across the Great Lakes,
St. Lawrence River Valley, and into Maritime Canada...and into a more
moderate layer that extends into the southeastern CONUS, the Gulf Coast,
and off the mid-Atlantic Coast into the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.
Central Plains…
A few thin to moderate smoke plumes were observed moving off toward the
NW across Kansas.
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