Wednesday, August 14, 2024

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1705Z August 14, 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 the
Park Fire in northern California, as well as several other fires located
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.

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.

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

 


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.