Thursday, August 19, 2021

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z August 19, 2021

SMOKE:
CONUS/Southern Canada/Atlantic Ocean...
Continued wildfire activity throughout the western CONUS and southern
British Columbia continues to produce thick smoke. The smoke from these
fires is accumulating in California’s central valley, with transport
southward from the Pacific Northwest into northern California and off the
coast. Remnant smoke is observed from southern California across southern
Nevada, Utah and into the Intermountain West and Dakotas. From there,
the smoke moves into southern Canada, where smoke then moves eastward. As
the main area of smoke moves eastward, some is drawn southward over the
Great Lakes, Mississippi Valley, and into the Northeastern CONUS. The
main area of remnant smoke then extends out across eastern Canada and
into the northern Atlantic.

Alaska/Northern Canada…
Remnant smoke was observed across northern Alaska, northern Yukon, and
the Northwest Territory this morning. The likely source of this smoke
is cross-polar transport from Russia.


DUST:
Atlantic...
Moderate density Saharan dust was observed blanketing the entirety of
the Tropical Atlantic and extends westward across the Leeward Islands
and Puerto Rico.

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

 


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.