Tuesday, September 20, 2022

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z September 21, 2022

SMOKE:
Eastern, Central and Northwestern United States, Southern Canada….
Ongoing wildfire activity across the Pacific Northwest and southwestern
British Columbia was observed producing moderate to thick density
smoke. From the parent fires, the smoke is moving west across Idaho,
Washington State, northern Oregon, southwestern British Columbia, and the
Pacific Ocean. The most dense smoke was produced from 2 fires in central
Victoria Island, northern Idaho, and the Cascades of Washington. Some of
the smoke from these fires from the past few days has become incorporated
into a low pressure system off the California coast, allowing the
smoke to move over northern and central California as well. Some of
this smoke may also have been drawn northward across northern Canada,
but this could also be transport from across the Arctic or Pacific.
A small portion of the Pacific Northwest smoke was also moving
eastward. The smoke then makes its way into Ontario. From there, the smoke
moves across the Mid Atlantic and out across the Atlantic Ocean. A small
portion of that smoke also may be present across the southeastern CONUS.

Mid-Mississippi Valley…
From southern Illinois into the ArkLaMiss, widespread light to moderate
smoke plumes of agricultural origin were observed. The movement of these
smoke plumes was governed by a high pressure area at the surface centered
over the middle of the Arkansas/Mississippi border. Remnant smoke from
activity in this area could be responsible for a moderate area of smoke
over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.


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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.