DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z July 15, 2022
SMOKE: Alaska/Gulf of Alaska/Canada/eastern half of CONUS/northwestern Atlantic… Wildfire activity across central Canada and central Alaska continues to produce smoke that adds to the persistent smoke layer that blankets much of northern and eastern North America. Smoke can clearly be seen moving east-southeast from ongoing wildfire activity across central Alaska. The moderate to heavy smoke then clears the Alaska Range and dives south across southern Alaska and into the northern Gulf of Alaska. From here, the smoke is drawn further south along the western periphery of a low pressure system over the eastern Gulf of Alaska. Although some uncertainty exists due to extensive cloud cover, it appears the smoke then rounds the southern edge and approaches the British Columbia coast, with greater uncertainty regarding the exact extent. Then from the Arctic, the smoke dives southeastward across the Canadian Archipelago and into Nunavut. From there, the smoke then moves south across Hudson Bay, Ontario, and northwestern Quebec. The smoke over Quebec then is drawn eastward across the Maritime Provinces and out across the Atlantic south of Greenland. The smoke diving south across Ontario continues southward across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and into the southern and central Plains reaching as far south as the Rio Grande and the Gulf Coast. The smoke that moved over the Great Lakes then gets drawn east-northeastward across the northeastern CONUS and out across the Atlantic, merging with the stream of smoke that moved across Quebec. The thickest smoke by far is the active smoke plumes from the intense fire activity in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which can be seen moving quickly eastward. The thick smoke from the same fire activity yesterday can now be seen moving north and northwest across western Nunavut around the eastern periphery of a cyclone centered just north of the Northwest Territory/Nunavut border. To be noted...the presence of extensive cloud cover obscures the analysis of smoke across much of the Yukon and northern Northwest Territory. Northern California/Sierras/Great Basin/Intermountain West... The Washburn Fire in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains was responsible for an area of light to moderate density smoke extending from the fire to the north and northeast moving across northwestern Nevada and into central Idaho and southwestern Montana. A second fire in northeastern Nevada was observed producing moderate density smoke, which was merging with the light smoke from the Washburn Fire. The smoke from this fire was moving northeast into eastern Idaho and over Yellowstone National Park. A third fire ignited this afternoon at the north rim of California’s Central Valley and was producing moderate density smoke that was moving northward. Central Plains… Agricultural burning was observed producing mainly thin smoke plumes across Oklahom and Kansas into Missouri. Much of the smoke was moving north to northwest. One fairly significant smoke plume was noted in western Oklahoma, producing moderate density smoke. The moderate density smoke was moving northwest and then southwest as the smoke lofted higher. DUST: Tropical Atlantic/Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan/Bay of Campeche... An expansive area of Saharan dust was seen extending across the Tropical and Subtropical Atlantic Ocean, a vast majority of the Caribbean Sea, the eastern 2/3 of the Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, and the Yucatan Peninsula. Dust over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico is fairly thin, being dragged north and northeast by a High off the Florida Peninsula, while the dust over the southern Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Caribbean was fairly thick. Northwest Nevada… Below the thin smoke from the Washburn Fire moving overhead, blowing dust was observed emanating from the southern portions of the Black Rock Desert. The dust was reaching about 55 miles northeast from the source over the Jackson Mountains. Central Arizona… Dust was observed being lofted by outflow from thunderstorm activity north of Phoenix. The gust front was moving south across northwestern parts of the Phoenix Metro area. 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