DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1745Z June 22, 2024
SMOKE: Alaska/Northeastern United States/Atlantic Ocean... A large area of light density smoke attributed to a combination of smoke from new and ongoing wildfires throughout Western Canada and Eastern Canada, fires in Alaska, seasonal fire activity throughout the Central and Atlantic Seaboard and the continued combination of smoke and aerosols emanating from the Gulf of Mexico continue to be observed today. Although cloud cover in these areas impacts detailed analysis, it can be presumed that various individual events throughout these regions such as numerous wildfires and seasonal agricultural burning are contributing elements to the vast combined area of smoke that can be seen covering these regions. Throughout the morning, light density smoke was observed covering much of the East Coast of the United States, with more moderate density smoke covering areas farther north reaching into Central Ontario and Southern Quebec. As the morning progressed the smoke was seen dispersing northeast towards the Great Lakes region before moving east through New England before extending east off the coast into the North-Central region of the Atlantic Ocean. Alaska/Yukon/British Columbia... Several wildfires located in East-Central Alaska were observed emitting plumes of light to moderate smoke leading to an area of smoke that covered the majority of Alaska and remained mostly within its respective state’s border. Several wildfires in the Yukon province of Canada were also observed emitting moderate smoke this morning, moving west in a similar circular pattern as the smoke present in Alaska. A large area of moderate to even localized thick smoke was visible in the southern region of the Northwest Territories, North-East British Columbia North-Central Alberta, Northern Saskatchewan and Northern Manitoba this morning, with areas extending as far as Ontario. This area of smoke is attributed to a significant amount of moderate to large wildfires scattered throughout the North-Eastern corner of British Columbia and several wildfires in Central and Northern Alberta. Oregon... A presumed wildfire fire located in South-West Oregon was seen emitting a plume of light density smoke that remained stagnant above the source. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula/Caribbean Sea/Cuba/Central and Southern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean... A large area of predominantly light to moderate density smoke attributed to widespread seasonal fire activity throughout Central and Southern Mexico and Central America was observed this morning from the Gulf of Mexico, Central and Southern Mexico and into the Pacific Ocean off the southwest coastline of Mexico. The combination of smoke and aerosols present in the Pacific Ocean off the Mexican coastline was also seen extending north as far as the United States-Mexico border, off the coast of San Diego, California. Heavy cloud cover over the Western portion of the Gulf of Mexico and Central Mexico due to Tropical Storm Alberto prevented a more detailed analysis of the smoke and aerosols throughout these regions. Saharan dust: A considerable amount of Saharan dust was observed today over the Eastern and Central regions of the Atlantic Ocean. The moderate edge of Saharan Dust is now covering the far eastern Caribbean Sea. Willkens 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