DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z May 8, 2008
Florida: Relatively thin smoke was visible this morning moving to the west and fanning out well off the west coast of southern Florida over the Gulf of Mexico due to the ongoing fire burning to the west of Lake Okeechobee in the extreme southeastern portion of Glades County near the border of Hendry County. Smoke located closer to the fire varied from moderately dense to extremely dense in nature with a very distinct pyro-cumulonimbus cloud indicated at sunset over southern Glades county. In east-central Marion County, a fire produced smoke which extended 40 miles NE into Putmam county. The northern counties of Bradford, Union, Baker and Duvall all had light smoke from a fire located in SW Clay County pass over them. Massachusetts: The island of Martha's Vineyard had a fire which produced light to moderately dense smoke which moved off the island to the east and west before becoming obscured by cloudiness. Minnesota: There is light smoke from a fire located in eastern Marshall County which is extending 100 miles to the southeast. Two fires located in Polk County are emitting light to moderately dense smoke which is traveling south as far as Otter Tail County. Texas: Central Kerr County has a fire that has produced light to moderately dense smoke that is extending over 100 miles to the east into Travis County. Another fire located in Schleicher county emitted a smaller smoke plume which as moved over 150 miles away from the fire toward the region of Bell County. There is also a region of blowing dust through central Texas which appears to begin in Gaines County, travel SE to Tom Green County and then turn NE and extend to with in 75 miles of the OK/TX boarder. California: In the northern California county of Tehama, a fire is emanating light to moderately dense smoke which is traveling south. The smoke is covering over 100 miles to the south, reaching Lake County and is about 10 miles in width. Oregon: A fire located Harney County is producing light smoke which is traveling south into Modoc County, California. There also appears to be multiple sources of blowing dust located in Modoc and neighboring Lake County, the output of these is also traveling to the south. Canada: There are many small agricultural fires in the southern regions of the Saskatchewan and Manitoba provinces. These fires are producing light to moderately dense smoke which is moving to the south but has not yet entered the United States. From earlier but still applicable: Western Gulf of Mexico: Morning visible imagery showed an area of mainly thin smoke extending northward across the Bay of Campeche to the western Gulf of Mexico off the southern coast of Texas. This smoke, which is due to the ongoing seasonal fires burning in Mexico and Central America, appeared to be moving to the north. From earlier: Southwestern to South Central Canada/Eastern Montana/Dakotas/Minnesota: A break in the cloudiness over the area stretching from southeastern Alberta Province to southern Manitoba Province in Canada as well as eastern Montana across the Dakotas to Minnesota revealed an area of haze which may contain remnant smoke from a significant number of primarily agricultural fires detected in the region. Other unknown aerosol sources may also be contributing to this haze including very long lived remnant smoke from the large Russian fires of more than a week ago. Salemi