DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z August 18, 2024
SMOKE: Canada/Midwest and Eastern United States/Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean… Smoke of varying density attributable to the ongoing wildfire activity aross northern, western and central Canada was seen continuing to produce moderate to thick smoke. The thick smoke was extending from the wildfire activity across the Northwest Territory both southward into northeastern British Columbia and east-northeastward over Nunavut and perhaps extending slightly over portions of the Canadian Archipelago. Moderate to perhaps some thick smoke was also seen extending southeastward across northern Alberta, Northern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, and into the western Great Lakes. There is also moderate density smoke form wildfire activity in central Idaho that is moving north-northeastward into western Montana and Alberta, where the smoke from this activity merges with the area above. Some of the combined layer of smoke is perhaps moving east below cloud cover over Ontario and Quebec. Light remnant smoke is also seen over the northern Gulf of Mexico and off the Mid-Atlantic coast ahead of a frontal system over the southeastern CONUS. There is also some thicker remnant smoke between TS Ernesto and the Mid Atlantic that extends northward into New England then turns eastward while over the Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland out over the North Atlantic. This smoke extends as far east as north of the Canary Islands and southwest of Iceland. DUST: Atlantic Ocean… A moderate amount of Saharan Dust was seen traveling westward across the Atlantic Ocean towards with a lighter amount of Saharan Dust seen over the Caribbean Sea. The dust was reaching as far westward as eastern Cuba and Jamaica while also being drawn northward on the eastern side of TS Ernesto to as far north as 40N. Hosley 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