Monday, August 12, 2024

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z August 12, 2024

SMOKE:
Canada/North Central and Northwestern CONUS...
Smoke of moderate to thick density was seen emanating from continuing
wildfire activity across northwestern and central Canada with smoke
of light to moderate density seen emanating from wildfires across the
Pacific Northwest. Thick smoke was observed across much of northern and
central Canada. Moderate smoke extends further  east across Quebec and
Newfoundland with some retrograde motion seen over Ontario. Some also
extends south-southeast over western Ontario, eastern Alberta, and the
western Great Lakes. Yet another area of moderate smoke was seen moving
southward over British Columbia and the near-shore Pacific. Some active
emissions from wildfires in the Pacific Northwest were moving mainly
along terrain-driven flow this morning, with a general flow toward the
east-northeast. Remnant smoke extends east toward the Dakotas then into
the central Plains.

Gulf of Mexico/Eastern CONUS/North Atlantic...
Light remnant smoke was seen over portions of the Southeastern CONUS,
Mexican Gulf Coastal Plain, Atlantic Ocean, and parts of the Gulf of
Mexico. The source of this smoke is likely agricultural burning across the
central and southern Plains and southeastern U.S. over the past few days
along with remnant smoke from the large wildfires out west. The thickest
smoke was seen off the Carolina Coast. Active emissions of light smoke
from agricultural sources was seen starting across the southeast from
Louisiana to Georgia.

DUST:
A moderate amount of Saharan Dust was seen extending westward from
the African Coast to the west-central Caribbean as far as the Island
of Hispaniola.

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.