Saturday, July 12, 2025

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z July 13, 2025

SMOKE:
Alaska/Canada/North-Central United States/Atlantic Ocean...
Wildfire activity today is mainly analyzed across two areas: Alaska and
central Saskatchewan/Manitoba. In addition to these two areas, a large
wildfire along the BC/NW Territory border is also analyzed. From these
fires, thick smoke is being produced. Smoke from a majority of the fire
activity is moving east-southeast to east from the parent activity. The
smoke is then moving around a cyclone over western Ontario, both moving
east-northeast over northern Alberta Hudson Bay, Baffin Island, and far
northern Quebec, and moving southeast into the Upper Midwest and the Great
Lakes. The southern stream is becoming incorporated into the cyclone,
which is helping to concentrate the smoke over western Ontario. Some smoke
is also seen moving northward around the cyclone over eastern Ontario,
James Bay, and southern Quebec. These two streams meet up over Labrador,
from where the smoke then bifurcates again, with some smoke moving into
Greenland and some over Newfoundland. The smoke over Greenland then dives
back southward and moves out over the open North Atlantic. From here,
smoke becomes lighter and begins to move northward toward Iceland.

Western CONUS/Southern British Columbia…
More than a dozen wildfires are analyzed across the western CONUS from
Washington State to New Mexico. Wildfires are more widespread across
the southwest, as wildfires are more isolated across the Pacific
Northwest. The thickest smoke producers were wildfires across the
Colorado/Utah border and north-central Arizona.  Smoke from fires in
extreme southern BC, Washington State, Idaho, and Colorado was moving
mainly east-southeastward, while smoke from fires across Utah, Arizona,
and Nevada were mainly moving southward. Smoke across northern California
was moving northward to northwestward. An area of remnant smoke was being
produced across far southern Nevada, northern Arizona, and west-central
New Mexico with contributions likely from the past day or two as well.

BLOWING DUST:
Tropical Atlantic/Caribbean Sea/Gulf of America/Southeastern CONUS…
Saharan Dust was observed extending westward from the Sahara across the
Tropical Atlantic and Caribbean and over the Bahamas, Yucatan, Gulf of
America, Florida, and the southeastern CONUS.

Southern Alberta…
A blowing dust plume was observed coming off the dried portions of
Kenilworth Lake in southeastern Alberta with the dust reaching southern
Saskatchewan.

Northwestern Sonora…
A dust plume was observed moving east-northeastward from a source in
the Caborca Municipality of Sonora.

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:http://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.