DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z August 30, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/US Great Plains and Western Gulf of Mexico/Northeast Pacific Ocean/Northwest Atlantic Ocean... Smoke from wildfire activity across wide portions of western Canada covered most of Canada and the U.S with the exception of parts in the western U.S. Within this, a large area of thick density smoke was observed over central and parts of eastern Canada, most of the Northwest Territories, and extending southward into the Great Plains region of the U.S, as far south as Oklahoma. Moderate smoke engulfed of the same regions mentioned prior as well as the southern U.S into parts of the Gulf of Mexico, parts of eastern and western U.S, where it combined with moderate smoke from the large wildfires in California and Oregon. California/Oregon… Wildfires in northwestern California and western Oregon were observed producing light to moderate smoke extending over coastal California and the adjacent Pacific Ocean as far south as Santa Barbara. Thick smoke from the wildfires in California extended over northwestern California along the Pacific coast while the thick smoke in Oregon was expanding all directions, concentrated within the state. Wildfires in both states produced large amounts of moderate smoke which contributed to overall larger area of moderate smoke that engulfed most of the U.S and Canada. DUST: Eastern/central Atlantic… A layer of Saharan dust was observed stretching from near and north of the Cape Verde Islands to about 50W. Additional dust was also seen over the western Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean north of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. NGUYEN 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