DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z January 2, 2006
New Mexico/Texas/Oklahoma: Visible imagery through late afternoon/early evening showed a very large area of blowing dust/sand combined with smoke from intense wildfires which covered the region including far eastern New Mexico, western and northern Texas, much of central and eastern Oklahoma, and even southeastern Kansas. This area of blowing dust/sand and smoke had spread across places such as Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Waco in Texas as well as Oklahoma City and Tulsa in Oklahoma. Strong westerly and southwesterly winds around a low pressure system developing in Kansas were fanning wildfires and also kicking up the cloud of dust/sand. The thickest smoke plumes were originating from several fires across western and central Texas, including ones over southern Sterling County, the border region of Irion/Reagan Counties, and Eastland County. The thick smoke plumes from these fires had spread well to the east and northeast reaching metro Dallas-Ft. Worth by early evening. Some of the blowing dust/sand had also spread across the Dallas-Ft. Worth region. Other fires across Lea County of eastern New Mexico and several counties of the western Texas panhandle between Midland and Lubbock also were producing visible smoke plumes for a time. However, the presence of blowing dust/sand eventually made it difficult to differentiate between the two. Another fire spreading from Clay into Montague County of northern Texas was emitting a significant smoke plume which had blown northeastward into southern Oklahoma. Finally, long narrow smoke plumes were spreading northeastward from fires across Logan, Lincoln, and Creek Counties of central Oklahoma. JS