DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z October 9, 2021
SMOKE: Northeastern U.S./Southeastern Canada/North Atlantic… Areas of thin density leftover smoke, possibly from a combination of the wildfires burning in eastern Saskatchewan of south central Canada and wildfires in western Montana, Idaho, and east central California, was seen this morning over New England, central and eastern Quebec, a portion of the Canadian Maritimes, and out across the north Atlantic generally south of Greenland. Ohio, Tennessee, and Mississippi Valley regions/Northern Gulf of Mexico… A broad area of remnant thin density smoke likely mixed with other atmospheric pollutants was seen this morning stretching from Illinois and Indiana southward to the western and central Gulf Coast region and over the northern Gulf of Mexico. This remnant smoke is attributed to both some of the wildfire activity occurring in south central Canada, western Montana, Idaho, and east central California, as well as some seasonal type burning occurring daily within the central and south central U.S. Cloud cover to the west and east of this area did interfere with additional information on the extent of the smoke. Montana/Central and South Central Canada… A swath of varying density smoke extended from central Montana to the northeast over much of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the southern part of Nunavut, and Hudson Bay. The smoke was believed to be mostly from larger wildfires burning in eastern Saskatchewan though some contribution from the wildfires in western Montana, Idaho, and east central California may also be occurring. Thicker smoke over east central Saskatchewan, west central Manitoba, southern Nunavut, and western Hudson Bay is linked specifically to the larger wildfires burning in east central Saskatchewan. DUST: Eastern Caribbean… The western part of an area of mainly thin density Saharan dust was visible this morning moving slowly to the west across the eastern Caribbean including Puerto Rico and at least the eastern portion of Hispaniola. JS 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