DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z APRIL 26, 2006.
Minnesota/North Dakota/Manitoba/Saskatchewan: This area contains numerous agricultural burns, some of which have light to moderately dense but generally narrow smoke plumes. In North Dakota, the plumes extend eastward or southeastward with particularly large plumes originating from fires in Richland County, northeastern McHenry County, and near the tri-county intersection of Ramsey, Walsh and Cavalier Counties. The fires in Minnesota are producing small southerly plumes. The fires in south central Canada are producing plumes to the east and northeast. Georgia: A fire in southeastern Wayne County is producing a moderately dense smoke plume that extends at least 200 km to the east northeast, ending far offshore. Southern and eastern Mexico/Gulf of Mexico: A persistent area of light to moderately dense smoke has been seen for days over the Gulf of Mexico and parts of Mexico. The smoke originates from the numerous fires burning across the Yucatan and Guatemala and to a lesser extent the eastern, coastal Mexican states. The smoke is particularly dense near coastal Yucatan, Campeche, and Tabasco and then the smoke moves northward approaching but today not apparently reaching the U.S. Gulf coast. Southwestern Mexico: Many fires in the western coastal states especially south of about 22N are producing smoke that is mixed with haze. The smoke/haze mix is particularly prominent in Guerrero, western Michoacan and Jalisco and is believed to extend offshore into the Pacific.