DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0030Z March 16, 2008
Gulf of Mexico: A very large area of thin smoke and possible sand/dust from last night's activity across TX/NM covers nearly all of the Northern GoM from Corpus Christi, TX to the Vermillion Bay of LA, also covering all of S AL, GA and the FL panhandle to Tampa, FL to 25N87W where it picks up into a line of moderately dense smoke that extends further SW to around 23N92W...then thins again as it is mixed in with the gravity wave packet across the western Gulf. At 23N92W this main area mixes with a very large plume of haze/smoke from oil rigs in the Bay of Campeche. This plume is quite dense today and is about 100km moving due North along 92W. Florida: A small patch of thin smoke (and possible sand/dust) from last night's activity across TX/NM has moved across N FL and is now seen in the Atlantic off the N FL, SE GA coast centered just NW of 30N80W. It is very possible this is connected to the larger area across the Gulf of Mexico...but cannot be sure since it is too thin to distinguish over N FL. A fire on Cape Canaveral (Merritt I.) is producing a thin plume of thin smoke that extends ENE about 114km out to sea. Louisiana and E/SE Texas: Multiple fires across E and SE Texas and W/SW LA have produced a large area of thin to moderate smoke that covers nearly all of the area from Galveston Bay to Sam Raybrn Res. east into LA to I-49 from Alexandria south to the Vermillion Bay and has generally moved S in the low levels and fanned out toward the SE with the higher level flow. Largest fires that have produced the most dense smoke are located in: 2 in S San Augustine county, NE Trinity, ext. SE Vernon parish, SC Beauregard parish. A small fire in nrn Natchitoches parish earlier produced moderate smoke that as rapidly moved SE and can now be seen over Concordia parish moving into far SW MS. SE Oklahoma: Two large fires are producing thin to moderately dense plumes of smoke that are moving south and have both reached the Red River; both are about 10-15km wide. The first is along the central portion of Latimer and Pittsburg county. The second is at the intersection of Pontotoc/Hughes/Coal counties. NW Oklahoma/Kansas: In W Woodward,OK county near Keenan and Sharon prouduced a very strong puff of thin to moderate smoke. It was intense enough to be picked up by the midlevel WSWly flow that has lead to a curved string that is currently strung out across the northern county lines of Major and Woodward counties. The low level smoke is moving West and NW covering much of N Ellis county and moving just a bit into far NE TX panhandle. Many small puffs of thin smoke can be seen across central KS and NW OK and are moving generally with sfc flow...so across C KS they are moving SW, across NW OK are moving WSW or W, and across SW KS are moving due W or a bit N of due west. Fires were seen in SW Major(OK), N Roger Mills(OK), SW Custer(OK), C Sedgwick(KS), NE and NW Pawnee(KS), N Ford(KS), counties. N Texas: The large fire across W King county is still smoldering and so thin smoke is moving west from across the county and to the Crosby/Dickens county line. SW/S Texas/N Mexico: The large fire in NW Terrell county has crossed into Pecos and has once again produced moderate to dense smoke that has been fanning out...with low level winds moving smoke toward the WNW (covering nearly all of Pecos) and high level winds rapidly moving smoke NE as far as Tom Green county. A large fire in NC Val Verde county is producing moderately dense smoke that is similarly moving NW (covering all of S Crockett) in the low levels and shearing toward the NE in high levels (extending to SC Schleicher county). The large fire along the Dimmit/La Salle county line has reactivated again mostly in SE Dimmit producing moderate to dense smoke with low level smoke that was moving S and SW but is now moving NW so is covers much of N Webb, all of Dimmit counties. The mid and upper level smoke is moving NNW to NE and covers SE Zavala county to Atascosa county. A very large wildfire in the mountains SSW of Monterrey along the Neuvo Leon/Coahuila state line is producing moderate to thick smoke that is moving up into higher elevations to the NW of the fire...making it very dense, but strong upperlevel winds are moving smoke over much of central Nuevo Leon, but asl covers much of S TX in Starr and Hidalgo counties with thin smoke with moderate smoke covering Cameron and Willancy counties and northern Tamaulipas state. Gallina