DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1645Z June 19, 2022
SMOKE: Much of the Lower 48/South Central and Eastern Canada/Western Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico… An enormous mass of thin density smoke could be seen covering most of the lower 48 of the U.S. with the exception of the far western U.S., southern Texas, and some of the Northeast. The smoke also extended up across southern Canada from southern Alberta to Quebec. From Quebec, the smoke extended northward over eastern Hudson Bay and well up over the Canadian Arctic. The smoke also appeared over a portion of the western Atlantic off the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast coast reaching just northeast of Bermuda, and over a sizable portion of the Gulf of Mexico. Within the huge mass of thin density smoke were patches of moderate density leftover smoke, primarily attributed to the ongoing and recent wildfire activity in the southwestern U.S., which were present across the central U.S. stretching approximately from South Dakota, southern Minnesota, and western Wisconsin southward to northern Texas and Louisiana. The majority of the smoke across the western, central, and southeastern U.S., western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and southwestern and south central Canada was believed to be primarily from the ongoing and recent wildfire activity in the southwestern U.S. The smoke across eastern Canada spreading southward across a portion of the northeastern U.S. and Middle-Atlantic region was likely from the wildfire activity in Alaska and northwestern and north central Canada. Alaska and Northwestern Canada... Significant cloud cover was present over a good portion of southern and eastern Alaska which limited information through satellite imagery on the extent and density of smoke from recent significant wildfire activity in Alaska. At least some thin density smoke was visible through breaks in the clouds stretching from the Bering Sea to the west of Alaska to the east and inland across Alaska to northeastern Alaska and the northern part of the Yukon in northwestern Canada. The smoke then covered much of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the northern portion of British Columbia where it likely mixed with smoke from a few wildfires burning in northern British Columbia and the Northwest Territories as well as smoke from recent wildfire activity in the northern portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Relatively smaller patches of moderate density smoke were visible in the vicinity of the active wildfires in the central part of the Northwest Territories and northern British Columbia. Also, an area of moderate to thick density smoke was seen near and to the east of a wildfire located to the northeast of Fort Greely in east central Alaska. Atlantic Ocean to the South and East of the Canadian Maritimes… Leftover thin density smoke was seen to the south and east of the Canadian Maritimes over the open Atlantic. Mexico/Southwestern U.S./Far Eastern Pacific off the West Coast of Mexico… A large region of thin density smoke attributed mainly to lingering seasonal fire activity in Mexico possibly mixed with some aerosols from industrial sources in Mexico was present generally over central, western, and northern Mexico as well as at least some of the southwestern U.S., the Gulf of California, Baja, and over the far eastern Pacific off the west coast of Mexico. The smoke from the seasonal fires in Mexico eventually dispersed over the southwestern U.S. as it merged with smoke from recent fire activity in the southwestern U.S. AEROSOL MIXTURE: Far Eastern Pacific off the California and Baja Coast… A thin density aerosol was visible this morning spreading to the south just off the California and northwestern Baja coast. This aerosol may be composed at least in part by smoke primarily from the recent wildfire activity in Alaska but also possibly contains atmospheric pollutants from sources in California and Baja as well as some blowing dust from these areas as well. DUST: Tropical Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea… A large area of mainly thin density Saharan dust made just slightly more westward progress in the past day and was seen over most of the Caribbean Sea, including islands of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and eastern Cuba, and extending to the north of that region for a few hundred miles. 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 map: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg Smoke data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Smoke_Polygons Fire data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Fire_Points ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO: SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov