DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z August 11, 2022
SMOKE: Western Canada/Southeastern Canada/Central U.S… A large mass of thin to moderate density smoke was seen extending from off the Pacific coast of British Columbia to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Greenland to Hudson Bay and eastern Canada. Another portion of this large area extends east-southeast across Alberta, the Intermountain West, the northern and Central Plains, the Great Lakes, and along and immediately north of the St. Lawrence River. Some also extends southwest off the Pacific Coast from British Columbia into a ball that extend south to northwestern California. Some remnant smoke may also be present from California’s Imperial Valley north into Idaho. Active smoke production, mainly thick smoke, was seen emanating from the Six Rivers Complex in northwest California, the Moose Fire in Idaho near the Montana border, and another fire in east-central Idaho between Pocatello and Idaho Falls, coupled with two in northeastern British Columbia and one in far northeastern Alberta. Smoke over northern Canada was sagging southward, as was the moderate area of smoke along and south of the frontal system over the Great Lakes, while active smoke in Canada was moving east and active smoke plumes in the western CONUS moving north to northeast. Mid-Atlantic Region/Atlantic Ocean… Relatively narrow swaths of generally light density leftover smoke were observed extending from the Mid-Atlantic region eastward and offshore to well out over the central Atlantic. This remnant smoke was possibly from a combination of recent wildfire activity in Newfoundland, northwestern Canada, and the northwestern part of the U.S. Active smoke emissions were also observed in eastern North Carolina, where moderate to thick smoke was being produced and was moving eastward off the coast. Southeastern Canada… Mainly thin density smoke was visible spreading to the west over southwestern Newfoundland, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and New Brunswick just to the east of Maine. This remnant smoke was likely from recent wildfires in Newfoundland which were obscured by cloud cover this morning. Central Plains… Mainly light smoke plumes of agricultural origin were seen across the Central Plains. The smoke from these fires was seen moving west to west-southwest. DUST: Florida/Bahamas/Tropical Atlantic, Caribbean Sea... A remnant patch of Saharan dust was visible this morning over the Bahamas and extending to the west and inland over the Florida peninsula. The dust also was present to the north of the Bahamas off the southeast U.S. coast and may extend inland over coastal Georgia and southward over Cuba and the western Caribbean as well. A larger and more significant area of Saharan Dust was seen extending westward from the Sahara to the eastern and possibly central Caribbean, reaching Puerto Rico. California/Oregon/Nevada… Honey Lake in northern California west of Lake Tahoe, a dry lake bed in far northwestern Nevada, and Summer Lake in south-central Oregon were all observed producing blowing dust this afternoon. The thickest dust was produced by Honey Lake and was being transported to the east-northeast. Dust from the other two sources was seen moving northeast. Hosley 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