Thursday, August 15, 2024

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0105Z August 16, 2024

SMOKE:
Canada/Central and Eastern United States/Atlantic Ocean...
A large area of combined light to heavy 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,
continued to be observed tonight throughout the majority of Canada
and the northern and eastern parts of the United States. Seasonal
fire activity throughout the Southeastern region of the United States
resulted in an area of light density smoke over the area that was seen
extending south-southeast into the Gulf of Mexico. The area of smoke
covering the eastern parts 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 western Canada, the Pacific
Northwest and portions of the North Central and Midwest regions of the
United States. Significant cloud cover throughout the Pacific Northwest,
Western and Central Canada, and the North Central and Eastern United
States prevented the full extent of thick density smoke to be identified.

California/Pacific Northwest...
Numerous wildfires throughout the Pacific Northwest region continued
to be observed tonight, including the Boise and Park fires located
in northern California, as well as several fires throughout British
Columbia, Washington State, Oregon and Idaho produced light to heavy
density smoke. Moderate density smoke was observed throughout the Pacific
Northwest region.

DUST:
A moderate amount of Saharan Dust continued traveling off of the African
coast westward across the Atlantic Ocean before reaching a weather system
to the north of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Lighter amounts
of Saharan Dust were seen traveling into the Southern Caribbean Sea.

Currier

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.