DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z April 23, 2008
Florida: There are several fires in central Florida producing light to moderate smoke which is moving southeast across Lake Okeechobee. There are also fires along the panhandle which are producing light smoke which is moving into the Gulf of Mexico. Georgia: Numerous fires were detected throughout the day but weather clouds have obscured much of the state. There is a large fire in Muscogee County with a plume extending as far south as Mills County. Tennessee: There were very few fires detected in Tennessee but there was a large fire in east Pickett County producing moderate to heavy smoke. Oklahoma: There are many fires in northern Oklahoma which are producing light smoke moving to the west. The is a fire in Woods county which is producing light to moderate smoke which is moving west into the panhandle of the state. Kansas: The eastern 1/3rd of the state has many small fires, most of which have thin to moderately dense smoke plumes emanating from them. These individual plumes have conglomerated into a large area of thin smoke that covers nearly all of eastern KS with a bit of smoke into far northern OK. A few individual fires across C KS, SW KS and NW KS are producing thin smoke that are moving west including one (in Stanton county) that extends into E CO. Nebraska: Similar to KS, there are many small agricultural fires burning across much of the state, though the fires are more spread apart than their KS counterparts. Similarly, they are also producing thin to moderate smoke, but low level wind flow is a bit more complex over NE, one the western side of a surface high pressure along the Missouri River. The highest density of fires and concentration of smoke is across SE Neb. ...the smoke is generally moving SW toward the KS boarder and into south central Neb. Thin smoke from fires across Cent and SW NE are moving northward, while smoke across NCent and NE Neb. is moving NE. Arizona: A large fire in Northern Greenlee county is producing light to moderately dense smoke which is moving NE into W New Mexico. The plume is about 50km long by 20km wide. New Mexico: A recent burst of dense smoke from the Trigo fire in central NM was seen moving N to NNE but does not extend more than 25km yet as it has recently reactivated. Northern United States: There is a moderate to dense band of unknown consistency in the upper levels of the troposphere extending across much of the the northern United States. It is likely that the area consists mainly of VOG from Hawaii as flow is out of the SW under the base of a cutting off upperlevel cyclone off the US West Coast. However, it may also be mixed with smoke from many large fires across E Russia or even possibly pollution/haze from China. Currently, area covers areas of the following states: E ½ of MT, S ND, SD, N NE, Central and Southern MN, all of WI and N IA. Hawaii: Volcanic ash, steam and gases (VOG) can be seen emanating from Halema'uma'u and Pu'u'O'o craters of Kilauea though it is cloudy over the area at this time. The VOG can be seen to the west of Kona, Big Island and extends to the west in a 2-3 degree (of latitude) wide plume moving within the easterly trades south of the other Hawai'ian islands. Salemi/Gallina