DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0310Z August 20, 2021
SMOKE: U.S./Canada/Atlantic... Ongoing wildfire activity throughout the western U.S. and southern British Columbia continues to produce thick smoke. The smoke from these fires was accumulating in California’s central valley with transport southward from the Pacific Northwest into northern California and off the coast. Remnant smoke was observed from southern California, across southern Nevada, Utah, and into the Intermountain West and Dakotas. From there, the smoke moved into southern Canada, where smoke then moved eastward. As the main area of smoke moved eastward, some was drawn southward over the Great Lakes, Mississippi Valley, and into the Northeast. The main area of remnant smoke then extends out across eastern Canada and into the northern Atlantic. Alaska/Canada... Remnant smoke was observed across northern Alaska, northern Yukon, and the Northwest Territories earlier on Thursday. The likely source of this smoke was cross-polar transport from the Russian Federation. DUST: Atlantic... Moderate density Saharan dust was observed blanketing most of the tropical Atlantic and extended westward across the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico. Konon 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