DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0310Z September 18, 2021
SMOKE:
Continental U.S./Canada/Mexico/Pacific off the U.S. West Coast...
A large area of primarily thin density smoke linked to the ongoing
wildfires burning in the western U.S. with possible more localized
contribution from daily agricultural type fire activity in the
south-central U.S. was visible stretching from just off the west coast
of California and Baja eastward and inland over virtually all of the
western and central U.S. and northern Mexico, and across the Great
Lakes region and a portion of the northeastern U.S. and southeastern
Canada. Cloud cover across the region from the Mid-Mississippi Valley
eastward to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S. interfered with
smoke detection in those areas. A swath of moderate to thick density
smoke was seen extending from the wildfires in south-central and
east-central California to the east and northeast reaching the Central
Plains region where it was concentrated along a frontal boundary. More
moderate to thick density smoke was noted closer to the wildfires in
northwestern California and spreading northward into southwestern
Oregon with somewhat more localized smoke detected near and in the
valleys around the wildfires in west-central Oregon, central Idaho, and
western Montana. Cloud cover ahead of a storm system had spread inland
over southern British Columbia, Washington, northern Idaho, and
northwestern Montana which has greatly limited fire and smoke detection
in satellite imagery in those locations.
Atlantic...
Leftover areas of smoke attributed to the ongoing wildfire activity mainly
over the western U.S. was seen off the east coast of Canada and the U.S.
east coast well out over the open Atlantic. Most of the smoke was of thin
density though a swath of moderate to even thick density smoke was seen in
the region roughly bounded by 40-50N latitude and 30-63W longitude.
DUST:
Caribbean...
An area of thin density Saharan dust was visible moving slowly to the west
over the islands bordering the eastern Caribbean Sea, much of the eastern
Caribbean, Puerto Rico, and just south of Hispaniola.
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