DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z January 7, 2006
Florida: A fire continued to burn through the day in the Apalachicola National Forest in central Liberty County of the Florida panhandle. Smoke was visible at times through some cloudiness, spreading southeastward and out over the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana/Texas: A number of fires were detected across Texas and Louisiana during the day. Smoke plumes were seen moving to the SSE and over the Gulf of Mexico especially from the fires which were closer to the coast of SE TX/S LA. The largest smoke plume was observed with the continuing fire near the border of Brazoria and Matagorda Counties. This plume was being blown rapidly to the SSE and had extended nearly 250 miles offshore from its source by late afternoon. Another prominent SSE moving smoke plume was produced by a fire close to Fort Polk in central Vernon Parish of west central Louisiana. This particular plume had a rather dense appearance on visible imagery. Arizona: Moderately dense smoke from a fire burning in the southern portion of the Kaibab National Forest in central Coconino County of north central Arizona was moving in a west-northwesterly direction. This area of smoke was affecting portions of the Grand Canyon National Park, including the Grand Canyon National Park Airport. California: Early in the day, a fire just south of southwestern San Diego, in extreme NW Baja, Mexico, was producing an area of smoke that was generally moving westward and offshore. Later in the afternoon, the residual smoke began moving more to the north and eventually to the northeast. By late in the day, the smoke was heading toward coastal Orange and San Diego Counties. It is possible that this very thin residual smoke could make its way into these counties during the evening and overnight. The hotspot associated with this fire though is no longer visible in GOES satellite imagery at this time. JS