Clouds of the Day -Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - Smoke Aloft from Alberta Fires

Fires burning in Alberta, Canada has spread smoke over Upper Midwestern skies during the past two days. Here is our sky this morning over Cedar Falls, Iowa. The view is looking SSE with the Sun out of the photo to the left. The milky sky is caused by the smoke aloft. Sunlight is scattered by the smoke particles which leaves pall over the sky.

To get a broader perspective scroll down to look at the GOES 16 satellite image this morning at 8:21 CDT. Aircraft CONTRAILS are visible as thin straight lines in the northwest edge of the smoke. CONTRAILS are short for Condensation Trails. The particles serve as condensation nuclei for water/ice to condense on. The smoke has spread as far south as northeastern Missouri and as far west as Nebraska, and the Dakotas.

The bottom image from yesterday’s post looks the same direction as the smoke image below from today. Notice the difference in the sky color today than it was yesterday.

Smoke covers the sky - May 17, 2023

This Image is courtesy of NOAA/NESDIS/STAR Goes East

This Image is courtesy of NOAA/NESDIS/STAR Goes East