Wednesday, November 16, 2022

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z November 17, 2022

SMOKE:
Pacific Northwest…
From northern California into southern BC, numerous light to moderate
smoke plumes were observed emanating from a combination of small
wildfires and prescribed burning. Smoke from northern California to
Washington state was mainly moving west with terrain flow forcing some
in variable directions...while smoke from fires north of 49N was moving
mainly east-southeastward.

Western Canada…
A few scattered smoke plumes were noted across northern Alberta into
central BC. These mainly light smoke plumes were moving eastward
to southeastward across the lower terrain of northern Alberta and
southwestward across the higher terrain of central BC.

BLOWING DUST:
Desert Southwest/Baja California/Gulf of California…
Dust from numerous sources was observed being lofted and transported
southward as far south as half the length of the Gulf of California. The
main sources of blowing dust, in increasing contribution, are the Red
Lake dry lake bed in far northwestern Arizona, the Cadiz Dunes Wilderness
Area within the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, and the western parts of the
Reserva de la Biosfera Alto Golfo de California y Delta del Rio Colorado
in far northern Baja California.

From Earlier…
OTHER AEROSOLS/SMOKE:
Bay of Campeche/Southeastern Mexico/Pacific off the Southern Coast
of Mexico…
Similar to recent days, a broad area of what is most likely primarily
thin density aerosol from industrial sources in Mexico with a smaller
contribution of smoke from oil and gas flaring and seasonal fire activity
in the region was seen over the Bay of Campeche, portions of southeastern
Mexico, and the Pacific off the southern coast of Mexico.

KH/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

 


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.