DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0030Z July 23, 2022
SMOKE: Much of Canada, United States, Gulf of Mexico, Northern Mexico and the North Atlantic Ocean… An expansive area of varying density smoke was analyzed over much of Canada, the United States, the western Gulf of Mexico, northern Mexico and extending well into the North Atlantic Ocean. Much of this area of smoke is the result of days to weeks of smoke emissions from Alaska, Canada, and the western CONUS. The active smoke production today was observed emanating from fire activity in extreme southeastern Yukon Territory, with thick smoke extending east-northeastward into the Northwest Territory. Thick smoke production was also observed from the Moose Fire in Idaho, with the smoke plume extending northeastward into central Montana. Smoke from yesterday’s fire activity in central and northern Saskatchewan was observed today as a moderate density area of smoke over Lake Superior and central Ontario, as well as contributing to an existing area of moderate density remnant smoke over northern Manitoba, Hudson Bay, and Nunavut. Remnant smoke from the Moose Fire was observed across the Dakotas, about to enter southwestern Minnesota. Moderate remnant smoke analyzed over the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys extending out into the Atlantic is likely the result of thick smoke emissions from earlier in the week from the Moose Fire and wildfire activity in northwestern Canada. Further south, smoke from gas flaring activity in the Bay of Campeche was clearly visible extending north-northwest. This,coupled with smoke from some presumably agricultural burning and remnant smoke from Canada/the western CONUS, was helping to maintain the portion of the larger smoke layer across the western Gulf of Mexico and the eastern coast of Mexico. California… The Oak Fire in the central Sierras was observed producing Pyrocumulus clouds with very thick smoke this afternoon. The Oak Fire ignited around 2130Z this afternoon and began producing the Pyrocumulus cloud by 2330Z. The lower-level smoke production moved mainly off toward the southeast, but emissions associated with the Pyrocumulus cloud moved off toward the north-northeast. BLOWING DUST: Northwestern Nevada/Southeastern Oregon… Dust was observed being lofted from numerous sources in northwestern Nevada, including Black Rock Desert, the Carson Sink, and the Humboldt Sink, and a dry lake bed in southeastern Oregon. The dust from the northwestern Nevada sources was moving off toward the east-northeast, while dust from the dry lake in southeastern Oregon was moving southeast. Tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea…. An area of thick Saharan Dust was observed extending off the African Coast to about 52W. From there, a thinner stream of dust was seen extending from a line from the Windward Islands to Puerto Rico westward across much of the central and eastern Caribbean Sea to a little southwest of Jamaica. 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