DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z March 4, 2006
Central/Southern Plains to the Southeast: An amazing number of fires dotted the region from the Central and Southern Plains to the Southeast. While most of these fires were likely agricultural or control burns, there still was an impressive number of smoke plumes observed across the region under clear skies and brisk winds. Will not even attempt to describe all of the visible smoke over the area. However several of the smoke plumes stand out. Fires over Jones, Jasper, and Butts Counties of central Georgia were responsible for a large batch of moderately dense smoke which had traveled in a southeasterly direction. A fire in Scott County of central Mississippi, around 30 miles to the east-northeast of Jackson was emitting a dense smoke plume which was moving southward into Smith County. Locally dense smoke plumes were also observed with fires near the Carter-Oregon County border of southern Missouri, and Yell and Montgomery Counties of west central Arkansas. The smoke from these fires was heading in a south-southwest direction. More locally dense smoke was seen moving off to the west-southwest from a fire in southern Angelina County of eastern Texas. Several good sized fires burning across the coastal region of both southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas were producing a decent amount of smoke which had combined to form a large area of smoke which moved southwestward paralleling the TX/LA coast. Some of the smoke appeared to be moving very close to the Houston metropolitan area. A thin smoke plume was also present across Lake Ponchartrain moving southward toward a portion of New Orleans from fires over St. Tammany Parish. Finally, a rather large moderately dense area of smoke was observed moving northwestward from a fire in eastern Reagan County of western Texas. The smoke moved just to the east of Midland, TX. Florida to Texas: A very long but thin band of haze likely accompanying a southward moving front stretched from the western Atlantic across central Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and over to the central Texas coast. It is possible that some residual smoke and blowing dust might be embedded in this area of haze. Utah: Strong southwesterly winds had kicked up a cloud of blowing sand/dust from the dry Sevier Lake in Millard County and the Great Salt Lake Desert in Tooele County and possibly other source regions in west central Utah. The cloud had spread northeastward and appeared to be very close to if not over the Salt Lake City region. JS