DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0125Z August 12, 2022
SMOKE: U.S./Canada/Pacific Off the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada… A large mass of thin to locally moderate and heavy density smoke was seen extending from off the west coast of Canada and the western U.S. to the east and inland over much of western Canada and the northwestern U.S. From there, the smoke branches off with one large swath extending to the east and northeast over much of central Canada and reaching northeastern Canada. The other branch extends from the northwestern U.S. to the east and southeast over much of the central U.S. with the smoke then narrowing farther to the east along a frontal boundary as it passes over a portion of the Great Lakes region and Ohio Valley to the northeastern U.S. It is believed that most of the smoke across central and northeastern Canada is from ongoing and recent wildfire activity in northwestern Canada. The smoke over the central and northeastern U.S. is probably a combination of smoke from the wildfires in northwestern Canada as well as the northwestern part of the U.S., while the smoke over the northwestern U.S., southwestern Canada, and off the west coast of Canada and the U.S. was believed to be primarily from the wildfires in the northwestern U.S. with some contribution from a few wildfires in southwestern Canada. Areas of thicker smoke were generally seen in the vicinity of some of the wildfires in northwestern California, west central Oregon, east central Idaho, south central Washington, southwestern and western Canada, and along the border of northwestern Montana and southeastern British Columbia. Atlantic… A patch of leftover thin density smoke which may be from a combination of the recent wildfire activity in northwestern Canada and the northwestern U.S. was visible well off the northeast U.S. coast and south of Nova Scotia. Farther to the northeast, a somewhat larger batch of remnant smoke was located along the coast of Newfoundland and extending to the northeast from there over the northern Atlantic passing south of Greenland. This smoke may be from recent wildfires which were burning in Newfoundland. DUST: Florida/Bahamas/Tropical Atlantic/Caribbean Sea... A remnant patch of Saharan dust was visible 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. 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 and Hispaniola. YL 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