Monday, January 16, 2006

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2345Z January 16, 2006

MEXICO:
Baja California/Sonora/Sinaloa:
Large moderate to dense dust and sand storms can be seen across NW Mexico.
The a large plume of dense dust and sand from the Alter Desert to the
east of the Colorado river in Sonora is blowing due south and extends
from the US/MX boarder to Isla Angel de la Guarda. Some dust and sand
is blowing into the city of Luis Gonzaga and into the Ballenas Channel.
The plume is about 135km wide.
A plume of thin to moderately dense dust and sand can be seen blowing off
the western slopes of the southern Sierra San Pedro Martin across Baja
California. Winds are directing the sand S along the ridgeline then SW
as winds flow through the gaps in the mountains. Some thin sand extends
into the far northern Bay of Sebastian Vizcaino.
A large area of dense blowing dust and sand covers most of the eastern
coast of the Gulf of California from Isla Tiburon to Culiacan in Sinaloa.
Source regions include the coastal deserts SW of Hermosillo,  the
deserts surrounding Cuidad Obregon and the coastal beaches and deserts
of N Sinoloa.  Winds are fanning transporting the sand from due S to SE
along coastline but west of the slopes of the Sierra Madre, and at its
widest (near 27N) the plume is 170km wide.

Chihuahua/Durango/Coahuila:
A thin line of thin dust and sand extends E-W across SE Chihuahua on
the front edge of a wind surge plunging S from the northern deserts
of Chihuahua.  The line extends 148km from the Coahuila state line back
just west of Ciudada Camargo.

A plume of very dense dust and sand is ragging across the deserts of
the Mexican plateau in far NE Durango and SW Coahuila and covers most of
central and southern Coahuila and extends even into Webb county Texas.
The plume is shifting from SW to NE orientation to a W-E one and is about
225km wide.  This shift will beging to affect most of N Nuevo Leon over
the up coming hours.

GG

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.