DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0016Z July 20, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/United States/Atlantic Ocean... Significant cloud cover was present over western Quebec which prevented the detection of the intense fire and smoke activity which had been occurring in that region. Moderate dense smoke was visible from eastern Alaska and extending to the east and southeast over much of northwestern Canada and some of western Canada to central Canada reaching as far east as western Hudson Bay. More moderate to thick density smoke from the western Canadian fires could be seen over the north central U.S. and western Great Lakes region. Thick density smoke was visible engulfing most of northern and central Canada, while extending northwest into eastern Alaska. Farther to the east and southeast, a large batch of moderate density smoke also from the western Canadian wildfires was present over much of the eastern U.S. and the Atlantic Ocean along the coast of the eastern U.S. The larger surrounding mass of thinner density smoke from the Canadian wildfires covered much of Canada, Alaska and the lower 48, and the northern Atlantic. Oregon/Northwestern California... A large fire located in southwestern Oregon is producing a smoke plume of moderate to locally thick density which spread both to the south along and just off the southwestern Oregon and along the northwestern California coast. DUST: Bay of Campeche/Yucatan Peninsula/Southern Gulf of Mexico/Eastern Caribbean Region/Western Atlantic Ocean… Residual thin density Saharan dust was visible over parts of the Bay of Campeche and extending to the east from there over the northern part of the Yucatan Peninsula and the southern Gulf of Mexico. The western and leading portion of a thicker area of Saharan dust was noted farther to the east over western Cuba, the eastern Caribbean region, and the tropical Atlantic east and north of there. Eglin 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