DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0500Z JULY 7, 2008
St. Lawrence Valley: Residual smoke from fires in Saskatchewan and Manitoba can be seen moving east across southeast Quebec and into the mouth of the St Lawrence river. There is a patch of moderately dense smoke from near Montreal eastward to an area just north of Maine. Western US: Most of the western one-fourth of the US is now covered in smoke from the California fires. Much of California is blanketed with recent smoke from the past day or two while Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and western Montana have had recirculated smoke from earlier in the week spread inland from the Pacific in the past day. Smoke from the numerous fires burning across California covers much of northern and central California. The thickest smoke was seen in northern and central California in the Sacramento Valley and the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada across Tehama, Butte, Yuba, Nevada and nearby counties. Areas of thick smoke also covered much of Trinity, Humboldt and Mendocino counties. The smoke was drifting to the south and had reached northern Fresno county. Much of the smoke from the fires in Monterey and Santa Barbara counties has drifted south off the coast although some thin smoke was still seen moving to the east into the San Joaquin Valley. Dense smoke from the large fire in northeast Kern county was drifting south toward Los Angeles county by sunset. A large mass of moderately dense to dense smoke covered much of Washington and northern Idaho with moderately dense smoke over much of western Montana, southwest Idaho and Oregon. aerosol was seen over much of Washington and Oregon having moved in from the Pacific. South Central Canada/Northern Plains and Great Lakes region: An area of thin smoke was seen across most of southern Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba. This area then extended south across the eastern Dakotas, Iowa and into Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and far western New York. This smoke is a combination of residual smoke from the large numbers of fires in northern California and in northern Saskatchewan. Alaska and Northwestern Canada: Two fires continue to burn in eastern Alaska. One fire was about 55 km to the south-southeast of Fort Yukon and the other about 50 km to the north of Fort Yukon. The smoke extends to the southwest across Tanana, McGrath and Bethel into the eastern Bering Sea. The smoke is thick near the source in the vicinity of Fort Yukon. Moderately dense smoke is seen from near McGrath westward toward Bethel and the coast. Ruminski