DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 005Z August 15, 2024
SMOKE: Canada/Central and Eastern United States/Atlantic Ocean... A layer of mixed density smoke attributed to a combination of seasonal burning throughout the United States and the significant amount of wildfire activity across north-central and central Canada, as well as the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, continues to be observed today throughout the majority of Canada and the northern and eastern parts of the United States. This mixed density smoke was seen extending from the central parts of British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, through central Alberta, northern Saskatchewan, central Nunavut, reaching Newfoundland and Labrador, before extending further east over the Labrador Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The area of smoke covering the majority of Canada and the northeastern part of the United States was observed as predominantly thick in density with areas of moderate density smoke seen throughout the Pacific Northwest and portions of the North Central and Midwest regions of the United States. Fires located throughout northern Manitoba were seen emitting moderate-to-thick plumes of smoke that were blowing northeast in direction, adding to the area of thick smoke present in the region. California/Pacific Northwest... Mixed density smoke attributed to numerous wildfires throughout the Pacific Northwest region continue to be observed today, including northern California, several fires throughout British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon and Idaho. Moderate density smoke was observed blanketing the Pacific Northwest region with areas of heavy density smoke seen in central British Columbia, western Oregon and northern California. Nevada... A wildfire located in eastern Nevada was observed producing light to moderate density smoke that was moving northeast in direction towards New Mexico. DUST: A moderate amount of Saharan Dust was seen traveling westward across the Atlantic Ocean before reaching a weather system to the north of Puerto Rico where lighter amounts of Saharan Dust were seen moving northwest past the system, over eastern Cuba, and into the central Caribbean Sea. 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