DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0058Z October 21, 2023
SMOKE: Northwestern and North Central Canada… An area of wildfires returned today scattered across the usual portions of British Columbia, Alberta, and the south central part of the Northwest Territories. Most of these wildfires are generally burning at relatively low intensity resulting in a swath of primarily thin density smoke which extends over the immediate area and slowly moved to the east this evening. Numerous fires were detected in British Columbia but due to cloud cover in the area much of the smoke could not be analyzed. California… A cluster of fires in northern half of California could be seen producing mostly two patches of light density smoke engulfing northern California. Numerous fires were detected in Oregon and Washington but due to cloud cover in the area much of the smoke could not be analyzed. Southeastern/South-Central US/Gulf of Mexico… An area of mostly thin density smoke attributed daily seasonal fire activity primarily over eastern Texas, Louisiana southeastern Missouri, and eastern Arkansas. The smoke was visible extending from eastern Texas eastward through portions of the southeastern U.S. into Alabama and then it moved south over the northern Gulf of Mexico. Moderate density smoke was seen over eastern Texas, Louisiana, and southeastern Missouri, most of the dense smoke was moving southeast as evening approached. North Dakota/Saskatchewan/Manitoba… Seasonal burning in North Dakota, southern Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba created an area of light density smoke around the surrounding area. Some of these fires were producing moderate density smoke plumbs as evening approached. Arizona/New Mexico… Scattered wildfire activity from northern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico were observed producing light to moderate density smoke plumes with the smoke moving generally to the east. In Arizona several of the plumes combined to cover the northeastern portion of Arizona. 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