DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1645Z August 22, 2024
SMOKE: Canada/Midwest and Eastern United States/Gulf of Mexico/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 western, north-central and central Canada, as well as the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West regions of the United States, continues to be observed today throughout the majority of Canada and the West to the Northeast regions of the United States. This mixed density smoke was seen extending from the western parts of the Northwest Territories and British Columbia, into Nunavut, moving east-southeast over the Hudson Bay, through central Saskatchewan and Manitoba, into Ontario and the Midwest region of the United States. The smoke was seen extending east over Newfoundland and Labrador and into the Labrador Sea before extending further into the northern Atlantic Ocean reaching as far as the coasts of western Europe. An area of moderate smoke was also observed extending south from Manitoba, through the Mississippi Valley, where it dispersed, blanketing the Southeast region of the United States and extending further south into the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico. Moderate-to-thick density smoke was observed covering areas extending from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of western Canada, throughout north-west and north-central Canada, regions near the North Pole and parts of the Hudson Bay and northern Atlantic Ocean. Some areas of thicker density smoke was concentrated closer to the sources of the wildfires and was observed over parts of the Northwest Territories, northwestern Nunavut, north-central Alberta and Saskatchewan, northern Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador as well as the majority of the Hudson Bay. Although a large amount of cloud cover throughout these regions prevented a more detailed analysis of smoke density in these areas, it can be assumed there is thicker density smoke concealed beneath the clouds and is present close to the sources based on past observations. Pacific Northwest/Idaho/Wyoming... Moderate-to-thick plumes of smoke were observed emanating from several large wildfires throughout central Idaho and northern Wyoming this morning, resulting in an area of moderate smoke that was seen moving east-northeast into Montana, the Dakotas and Nebraska. DUST: A light amount of Saharan Dust was seen traveling westward across the Atlantic Ocean towards the Lesser Antilles with a lighter amount of Saharan Dust seen over 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