<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/ernesto-smoke-dust-16aug18-10z.gif" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/ernesto-smoke-dust-16aug18-10z.gif 400w, https://s.w-x.co/ernesto-smoke-dust-16aug18-10z.gif 800w" > GOES-East GeoColor visible satellite image showing wildfire smoke from Canada and the western U.S. almost encircling Subtropical Storm Ernesto on Aug. 16, 2018 at 6:00 a.m. EDT. A Saharan dust plume can also be seen east of Ernesto. (CIRA/RAMMB) (CIRA/RAMMB)

At a Glance A strange juxtaposition was seen Thursday in satellite imagery over the Atlantic Ocean.

Namely, a subtropical cyclone was spinning in an area of wildfire smoke.

That smoke came from wildfires in Canada and the U.S., transported by upper-level winds.

The smoke plume stretched all the way to western Europe.

A strange juxtaposition appeared in satellite imagery over the Atlantic Ocean this week.

Subtropical Storm Ernesto formed in the North Atlantic Ocean, well southeast of Newfoundland, Wednesday, though it was no threat to land.

The fact that Ernesto was a subtropical, rather than tropical, storm and that it formed at roughly at the same latitude as Washington D.C. isn't the weird part.

(MORE: What Is a Subtropical Storm? )

What struck meteorologists as odd was how Ernesto's circulation appeared to become encircled by wildfire smoke, showing up as a dull haze in GOES-East satellite imagery.

You're probably wondering where wildfire smoke over the North Atlantic Ocean hundreds of miles from land came from.

Utilizing a NOAA model often used in winter to find the origin of forecast Arctic air masses, Dr. Brian McNoldy from the University of Miami found this upper-level smoke plume appeared to have originated from wildfires in western Canada and California.

In a high-resolution Aug. 10-14 satellite loop, you can see where this smoke plume came from.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/smoke-canada-to-atlantic-10-14aug18.gif" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/smoke-canada-to-atlantic-10-14aug18.gif 400w, https://s.w-x.co/smoke-canada-to-atlantic-10-14aug18.gif 800w" > High-resolution loop from the Suomi NPP satellite showing the track of wildfire smoke from western Canada and the western U.S. to the North Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of what would become Subtropical Storm Ernesto from Aug. 10-14, 2018. (NASA Worldview) (NASA Worldview)

By Thursday morning, that smoke plume had appeared to reach as far east as northwest France and northwest Spain, roughly 4,700 miles from its source over western Canada and the western U.S.

Our friends at Radiant Solutions, a weather consulting group, had a fun take on this juxtaposition.

How Could Smoke Particles Impact Ernesto?

A pair of recent studies found atmospheric aerosols, of which smoke is another example, helped to weaken both Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as Weather Underground's Dr. Jeff Masters detailed in an April 2015 blog post .

A study released in 2015 by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory found darker smoke particles had a suppressing effect on African thunderstorm development from 2006 through 2010, but also mentioned lighter-colored particles could actually increase rainfall.

Paradoxically, a 2004 study of convection over Brazilian rain forests found smoke to be an overall suppressing effect of rainfall, but in the showers that do develop, heavier rainfall was found.

(MORE: 17 Moments We'll Never Forget About the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season )

It will be interesting to observe what impact, if any, the smoke plume will have on this named storm, though it will soon move over colder ocean waters, experience increasing wind shear and merge with a frontal system that will ultimately spell its demise.

Given the rash of Western wildfires and the propensity for named storms in the subtropical or northern Atlantic Basin, you could argue this satellite image was somewhat iconic of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season so far.