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