Wednesday, August 18, 2021

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1605Z August 18, 2021

SMOKE:
Eastern Canada/Western and North Central Atlantic Ocean...
Smoke transport from widespread wildfire activity over parts of the
Western and Northwestern U.S. as well as fire activity in Southern Canada
including Southern Ontario has resulted in large regions of moderate to
thick density smoke. Smoke was observed over a large region of Eastern
Canada including most of Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, the Southern
Labrador Sea, as well as east of Newfoundland over parts of the Western
Atlantic Ocean. Light to moderate density smoke was observed as well
over parts of North Central and Western Atlantic Ocean this morning.

North and Central U.S./Southern Central Canada...
Smoke transport from widespread wildfire activity over parts of the
Western and Northwestern U.S. has resulted in a broad region of moderate
to thick density smoke observed over most of the Northern and Central
U.S. including the Northern Central, Central, and South Central Plains as
well as parts of the Central and Southern Rockies including Colorado and
New Mexico.  Smoke from wildfire activity in Southern British Columbia
and the Western U.S. has resulted in thick density smoke  being observed
over a large region of South Central and South Eastern Canada including
Southern Saskatchewan,  most of Manitoba, most of Ontario, and into
Northern and Central Quebec this morning.

Western, Northwestern, and Southwestern U.S./Pacific Ocean...
Thick density smoke from the Dixie wildfire complex as well as from
other large complex fires in Northern and Central California as well as
West Central Oregon, Southern Washington, and the Northwestern U.S. has
resulted in a broad region of thick density smoke. Thick smoke was
observed over most of Northern and Central California including San
Francisco, as well as over parts of Washington, Oregon, most of Nevada,
Southern and Central Idaho, most of Montana, and over the Northern and
Central Rockies. Light to moderate density smoke was also observed over
parts of the Southwest U.S including Northern and Central New Mexico
and most of Arizona.  Light to moderate density smoke was also observed
over Southern California including San Diego. Light to moderate density
smoke was observed over most of the Western U.S. as well as offshore from
California and the Northwestern U.S. over the Pacific Ocean this morning.

Western Gulf of Mexico/South Texas...
A region of light to moderate density smoke likely attributed from
offshore drilling platforms in the Bay of Campeche was observed over
parts of coastal South Texas and parts of the Western Gulf of Mexico
this morning.

DUST:
Eastern Caribbean/Central and Eastern Tropical Atlantic...
A large region of thick Saharan dust was observed over the Eastern and
Central Tropical Atlantic Ocean. Light density Saharan dust was also
observed over the Eastern Caribbean including the Lesser Antilles with
most of the thick density Saharan dust observed to the northeast of this
region in this morning’s GOES visible satellite imagery.

Sambucci


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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.