Smoke from the southern wildfires...

[Thundersnow]

Smoke still affecting the region this weekend:

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
301 AM CDT SUN MAY 27 2007

.DISCUSSION...STRONG RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE RAIN FREE AND
WARM WX TODAY. HAZE/SMOKE SPREAD INTO MID TN YESTERDAY BUT VSBYS
WERE STILL GREATER THAN 10SM MOST SITES. TODAY WILL ALSO BE A BIT
HAZY WITH PC AND OCCASIONALLY MC SKIES.

I did notice that the sky had this "milky" appearance yesterday and was wondering if some of that was the smoke.  I was outdoors most of the day (actually, canoeing on the Harpeth River with brother and kids), but I didn't notice any smoky smells.

Hope everybody is having a good Mem Day weekend.

[Ron_Jarrell]

Do you have your own canoe? It's been a long time since I floated a river. It would be fun to do it again sometime.

[Thundersnow]

Nope.  We rented from Tip-A-Canoe in Kingston Springs. 

The Harpeth is decent (though a bit low because of lack of rain... we got stuck in the rapids several times).

The Buffalo River in Perry County is a good canoeing destination as well.

[Ron_Jarrell]

Yeah, I went on the Buffalo while in the Boy Scouts. I was always afraid to canoe the Buffalo with my kids and wife because it can get pretty eat up with moccassins in the summer.

[servocrow]

The smoke smell is definitely in the air today.  We could smell it throughout our trip until we got close to the coast.

That high pressure system needs to start taking its rightful place in Bermuda so we can start funneling in our tropical moisture.

[Thundersnow]

Wow! 

I just came in from outside.  There is a STRONG smell of smoke here in Nashville now, and visibility is noticeably reduced.

It's just amazing to me that we can actually smell the smoke from burning pine trees in south Georgia right now.

[Ron_Jarrell]

It's amazing to me too. The smoke in the air is the topic of conversation at work today it's so intense. Some people didn't believe the smoke was from the FL/GA wildfires. It's pretty incredible the amount of smoke in the air today. I could smell and notice it for the last few weeks, but today beats them ALL.

[Thundersnow]

The smoke is back.  It seems to be a problem mainly in the morning hours.  As I understand it, "mixing" in the atmosphere causes it to dissipate somewhat in the afternoon.

[Ron_Jarrell]

Check out the satellite observed smoke plume and hotspots here:
http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm

Now THAT is amazing! The plume extends across the entire continental U.S. into Canada!

[Ron_Jarrell]

NOAA Smoke Text report 5/30:

Southeastern US to the Ohio Valley/Great Lakes region:
Morning visible imagery indicates moderately dense to locally dense
smoke moving to the west-northwest across southern Georgia and into
southeastern and east-central Alabama. This smoke is being emitted by
the ongoing large fires in southeastern Georgia. The smoke then likely
becomes thinner in density as it spreads to the northwest and to the
north across Alabama and Tennessee, through the Ohio Valley and portions
of the Midwest to the Great Lakes region including Michigan(both lower
and upper), Wisconsin, and portions of Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Lake
Huron, and Lake Superior. Clouds were beginning to obscure part of this
large area so additional details on smoke extent and density could not
be determined. Farther to the southeast, a swath of haze also appears
in visible imagery stretching from West Virginia southeastward across
Virginia and the Carolinas to off the Southeast coast. It is possible
but cannot absolutely be determined that there is some leftover smoke
from the Georgia fires contained within this other region of haze. Over
southern Florida, a significant smoke plume of moderate to thick density
was observed moving to the west from a growing fire close to the northern
and western shores of Lake Okeechobee. The smoke plume was moving in
the general direction of Charlotte Harbor.